After 3 years of treatment, 19-year-old Matt Driscoll finally got to ring the cancer-free bell at Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio.
This chapter of his life began when he was 16. When all seemed to be well as he led the busy life of an active, athletic teen. As he put it,
“I played basketball and football my entire life and was in great shape.”
But things began to change. Things that had come with ease became more difficult.
According to a report done by Cleveland.com when Matt was only a year into his treatment, Matt began having issues while at football practice. His lymph nodes started to swell and breathing became difficult.
But boys will be boys.
“I didn’t really think much of it,” he said.
And so he did what he had been trained to do. Work through the pain. He was a wide receiver, and a quarterback, so he kept on running.
“It was really hard to breathe, and I almost passed out like five times.”
Eventually, Driscoll was rushed to the hospital, and a day later he learned his diagnosis—acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
A New Chapter Begins
Fast forward three and a half years and Driscoll is finally able to put years of chemotherapy behind him. Years where he went from being a healthy teen weighing 140 pounds to a sickly 86 pounds, unable to fight off germs and infection. And as if the cancer wasn’t bad enough, he nearly lost his life due to a fungal infection in his lungs.
Despite all that, Driscoll has managed to keep a positive attitude and an open mind throughout his ordeal.
His attitude is reflected in a speech he gave to his team a year or so into his illness.
“Seize the opportunity,” he told them. “I say seize the opportunity because you never may know when your last snap of football is.”
Finally, he has a chance to take that advice himself.
Just this past January he was able to walk down the hallway at Akron Children’s Hospital, friends and family at his side, and ring a bell. A bell that symbolizes the end of his fight with cancer.
In an interview with Good Morning America, the teen shares his feelings.
“When I walked through the hallway, I was getting flashbacks of what I been through over the last three-and-a-half years,” Driscoll said. “To finally been done with it was overwhelming — that was, without a doubt, the happiest day of my life.”
Surrounded by supporters, Driscoll rang the bell with vigor. He shed tears while he did so—likely tears of release, and tears of joy.
Getting on With Life
Driscoll’s doctors have every confidence that he has a bright future ahead of him. The hospital reports,
“Matt will lead a happy life thanks to some help from his doctors at Akron Children’s Hospital, and support from friends and family.”
He’s enrolled at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and is pursuing his business degree. And he had some final words of wisdom to share,
“Ten percent is what happens to you, and 90 percent is how you react to it.”
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