BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (WTVF) — Some of life's most valuable lessons are best learned through after-school sports.
It's not just about learning the plays or winning or losing of course, but how to win and lose as a team.
Back in the middle of September, I went to an event called Round of Hope, which is an event to raise money for pediatric oncology at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
One of the first people I noticed was a young man who appeared to be not only confident but strong and polite. He was the type of teenager who looked you straight in the eye when he introduced himself.
He was the emcee for the event — this 13-year-old Easton Reeder from Brentwood.
He got up in front of at least 200 people and spoke from the heart. It was crystal clear — he was courageous, motivational and determined to be a voice for others.
I wanted to know more about him.
He's in middle school and plays sports. He's on his middle school JV football team.
I went on a Tuesday afternoon to check out one of his scrimmages. It was raining and Easton was in the middle of playing a game he loves with his friends, but he took time to run over to me and introduce himself.
We talked more the next day. He wanted to be like every other kid.
He is. He wakes up and makes his own breakfast of vanilla yogurt with cereal. He stood at the family's kitchen counter and told me that's the norm for the week, but on the weekends he's been making omelets.
He's in seventh grade. He can cook. He was raised to be polite and use good manners. What else can he do?
He can beat cancer.
Easton sat on the edge of his bed showing me the baseball rings and medals he has won.
I asked him what had been the biggest win of his life.
"Winning the battle against Trevor, which is my brain tumor," he said.
Easton called his tumor Trevor. Doctors found the tumor after he had a concussion not related to sports or football.
Still, it was Trevor who started this battle.
"I wanted to be as normal as possible," he said. "It was always a challenge for me to be normal. So when I could go to school, I wanted to go to school."
"Doing those things that some other people think are just regular kid things are so crucial for their well-being," said Dr. Devang Pastakia, Easton's oncologist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
"I didn't want to be known for having cancer. I wanted to be known for overcoming it and being Easton. Being normal."
He has a pretty normal 13-year-old's room. He has baseball medals and rings, books and plenty of Tennessee Volunteers memorabilia.
If you look carefully, you'll see a bell sitting atop two books. It may be one of the most important items to Easton. It's not the signed jersey or the rings and medals.
It's a bell — reminding him that he won the most important fight of all.
"Trevor may have started the battle. But I sure have won the war."
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The Round of Hope event raised more than $150,000 for pediatric oncology at Vanderbilt.
Do you have a story you'd like to share? You can email me at Austin.Pollack@newschannel5.com.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
