Courtesy of Dugan Lloyd, WITN
At John Paul II, Zac Velleman is an inspiration. After being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma this summer, Zac’s battle against cancer began.
In the moment of the news, Zac’s first reaction was to soccer.
”I didn’t have anything to say about it at first, I was just really bummed I couldn’t play soccer. You know going to all the practices twice a day and then finding out I have cancer, it’s not something I was ready for.”
The news hit his family and teammates hard too.
“I didn’t know what to think, the first time after thinking about it, all I could do was say we need to donate this season to him, our fight is his fight and that what a team is, like every goal we make, that’s his goal, we look at the 3 on our side, that’s his goal not our goal, the name on the back is second, his name is first,” said team captain Ryan Smith.
With Velleman on their minds, JP2 has been unstoppable on the pitch. They just finished off their best regular season in program history, at 13-4-1.
To make things even sweeter, Zac was cleared to play soccer last week when the doctors and nurses gave him the good news. While the cancer is still there, he can play soccer once again.
To help out with his family’s medical bills from the chemo and radiation treatments he will continue to need, you can donate at this link: Give A Hand | #fightwithzac .
