LEHI — The age of nine is crucial for Calvin Smith. That’s when she started mountain biking and it was also when she found out she had brain cancer.
After 8 years of treatment, the cancer classified as PXA (anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma) has become inoperable, paralyzing the right side of Calvin’s body, who is now 17 years old. Friends, family, and strangers rallied with the teen to make sure he could simply stay on the trails raising money to buy an adaptive bike.
Skyridge High School mountain bike trainer Jason Taylor, who has been coaching Calvin for six years, described the boy as an “amazing athlete. “
“Cal is almost on the podium in the races. . . regardless of that tumor, he’s an incredible athlete,” Taylor said. “Last year he was in the fastest category at the moment and won some races for us. I was going to become a school cyclist this year. “
Taylor spoke of watching Calvin run painful moments that no other athlete on the track has experienced and yet he made it, race after race.
“It was actually difficult for him and I think the harder he tried, the more of a headache it caused him,” Taylor said. “But he saw that as the obstacle he had to overcome and there were a lot of races that didn’t prevent him from doing that. ” . He just controlled crossing it. . . I never heard any apology from him. “It was just his fight that he was fighting in silence, that no one else knew about until recently. “
Calvin, who has gone through five surgeries since her diagnosis, along with several rounds of radiation and constant chemotherapy, said educating and competing has been very difficult, but mountain biking is something that has brought her so much joy. He went on to describe what it’s like to go through cancer remedies over the years, each of which brings worry and hope.
“I was in seventh grade, I was part of the Junior Devo team. . . then another tumor appeared and I had surgery and radiotherapy,” Calvin explained. “Soon they put me back on the motorcycle and then the following year, everything went well. And then the following year, it was my freshman year on the freshman team in high school, and then I got another tumor this summer. I was “
Calvin’s father, Ryan Smith, said that with the tumor and the upcoming surgery, they thought it would simply be a way of life: developing and eliminating tumors. She said the family hoped her son would make it.
“It was a little tricky to manage the spaces where we thought he would have a strong chance of bad luck (with surgeries), and then each and every time it was another step backwards,” Smith said. “I think Cal treated him really well and every time it happened it was terrible and made us relive all those emotions. But after five of them, it was almost like, ‘Okay, this is it. ‘what we do each and every day. ‘The other year, he has a tumor, we went to remove it, it will hurt him, but he goes to go back to school and all the things he likes. do.
But in January things did not go so well. And then, in March, everything started to get worse rapidly. “
“Team Cal”
The recent setback was an inoperable tumor. This caused Calvin’s entire right aspect to be paralyzed. Taylor said watching the young athlete go through this difficult situation, adding that he, his team members and the local mountain biking network tried to step in to help him.
“I enjoyed working out and have become very close to Cal and his family,” Taylor said. “It’s one of those things where all those emotions go through the years and they surface and frustrate you and even make you angry. We need to find tactics to prove and give back a little bit of who is, given over the years since you can no longer drive. We hope to find a way to keep him on track.
Taylor, along with many others, has created what they call #TEAMCAL, an organization committed to raising money to buy a motorcycle adapted for Calvin. On Wednesday, there will be a fundraising event, a “Ride for Cal,” taking place on Eagle Mountain. Here, riders will ride a 6-mile loop as many times as they can, and cash can be donated to riders through the site itself.
“We now have over a hundred sponsored runners, and for every mile they run, we have sponsors who will give them a few bucks to run those miles and every dollar adds up,” Taylor “I think it’s going to be something really special for this community. We need to help Cal realize that there’s something amazing around him. “
“We’ve been given riders who are passing by to try to do a hundred miles in a single day,” he said. “Some of them are going above and beyond to try to accomplish anything that’s hard enough, all for an incredible cause. “
An adapted motorcycle sells for about $20,000 and Calvin said it would mean a lot to him to get back on the trails. He said he was very grateful for the support.
“It’s amazing that so many other people care about me, so many other people I didn’t even know,” Calvin said. “Having a motorcycle to ride would be wonderful because you might still be on the trails. “
The Ride for Cal fundraiser will be held at the Eagle Mountain Rock City trailhead from noon through Wednesday. To participate or make a donation, visit teamcal. org. A GoFundMe* campaign has been organized to help fund the bike.
*KSL. com does not guarantee that the cash deposited in the account will be used to obtain advantages from the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are thinking of making a deposit into the account, you deserve to consult with your own advisors and otherwise. way continues at your own risk.