Ewing Sarcoma: Why The Teenage Swimmer Considers This Rare Cancer A Wake-up Call

Many empathized when the news about an 18-year-old teenage swimmer marrying his high school sweetheart after receiving an ill-prognosis about his Ewing Sarcoma broke the internet.

Ewing Sarcoma may be the second most common type of bone cancer in children but it is very rare. About half of Ewing Sarcoma tumors are found in children and young adults, ages 10-20 years old, according to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

About 70 percent of children with this type of cancer is reportedly cured; however, those between ages 15 and 19 have a lower survival rate.

The peculiar thing about this type of cancer is that it is rarely found in African Americans and Asia Americans, the site further stated. It is less likely passed from parents to children and boys are more likely to be affected by this cancer compared to girls.

This rare type of cancer occurs in bones or soft tissues around the bones, Mayo Clinic reported. It may begin at the leg bones or the pelvis but it can also affect the soft tissues of the limbs, ribs, abdomen, arms or spine.

The cause of this rare type of cancer is unclear but someone’s age and ancestry are considered as risk factors, the said medical site further reported.

Chase Smith, the teenager from Indiana who went viral online after marrying his high school sweetheart, was diagnosed with this type of cancer when he was 12. He reportedly experienced several relapses after the diagnosis but it was only this year that his condition exacerbated.

Smith was given by the doctors three to five months to live. Brad Smith, Chase’s father, told CBS News through email that tumors were found on his son’s lungs, shoulder and brain.

Considering Chase’s condition and the prognosis which he reportedly saw as a wake-up call from God, he and his girlfriend, Sadie Mills, decided to get married last month.

Chase’s dad told the news outlet that the diagnosis was not the reason why they made such a decision, rather it was the desire to make the most out of the relationship with his time. Their decision to get married was reportedly supported by their respective families.

Treatments like chemotherapy, radiation and surgery can be done. As for Chase, his dad shared that he would be receiving palliative radiation treatment, targeted chemotherapy and monthly infusions to aid with bone density.

The family, in addition to these treatments, has reportedly considered “repurposed drugs to slow or stop the cancer.”