RYE — According to the American Cancer Society, about 6,000 teenagers ages 15 to 19 are diagnosed with cancer every year in the United States.
Many of the children diagnosed go through the difficult process of chemotherapy. A student athlete at CSU Pueblo has a similar story to share.
19-year-old Dylan Hurne found his fit on the football field.
“So football is like one of the most important things to me,” said Hurne.
Hurne grew up in Rye, Colorado, and became one of the best running backs in Thunderbolts history.
“I started getting looked at for football and stuff my junior year,” said Hurne.
Wanting to compete at a higher level, he committed to playing football at CSU Pueblo.
“I ended up going there. It's just kind of been going pretty smooth so far. But there's been a little hiccup, a few hiccups that have happened along the way,” said Hurne.
Many of these hiccups were not something Hurne was planning for.
“I was really sick a lot of the time, and we finally got everything biopsied. My neck was really swollen, and it turned out, yeah, I had stage 3 lymphatic cancer,” said Hurne.
Four days after he was diagnosed with stage 3 lymphatic cancer, Hurne started chemotherapy.
“Mid chemo and mid treatment, I got pneumonia, the flu, C diff. I got a bunch of stuff, so they had to pause my treatment for a while,” said Hurne.
He battled through eight rounds of chemo with the difficult side effects, including losing weight, his appetite, and mobility.
“I get insanely lightheaded. My breathing was terrible. It was the weirdest thing. I had to learn how to use my legs again. Basically, I just couldn't run. I'd just fall,” said Hurne.
Through the falls, he held on to hope and never lost his faith.
“When you get to your lowest, you definitely need something to grab onto, and that was God's hand, and (I) really got to thank my family too. Like they really got me through it and my friends too,” said Hurne. “I knew I was gonna come back to playing football. I knew I was gonna make it out of it.”
Hurne said what he learned during all the years of playing football was actually preparing him to face his biggest competitor, lymphatic cancer.
“I honestly don't know how I would react if I didn't have football my whole life, because I had that built-in discipline. I had that built-in strength,” said Hurne.
He said football guided him through fighting cancer.
“Just coming back to football, like I chose to fight and keep going with my life, I'm not gonna let that change my ambition or change my story,” said Hurne.
Good news arrived on February 11 when Hurne finished chemotherapy.
“I am cancer-free,” he said.
Now that he's cancer-free, Hurne is back on the football field practicing with his CSU Pueblo Thunderwolves teammates. He said he is ready, excited, and can't wait to compete in this upcoming football season.
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Pueblo community honors 13-year-old Joeylin McDonald with lantern ceremony
Family and friends gathered at the Riverwalk in Pueblo to celebrate the life of 13-year-old Joeylin McDonald, who passed away last week in a tragic accident at a youth program.
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