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SALT LAKE CITY — Bountiful High senior Jeremiah Johnson is grateful for sports in a way that others typically don't get to experience. Many athletes are grateful for the opportunity to play a sport they love, but Johnson has sports to thank for his life.
Diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma on Jan. 27, a rare disease where cancer cells are found in the bone, Johnson's life quickly changed. As a member of the football team and a wrestling captain at Bountiful High, Johnson discovered a problem with his leg while trying to drop weight to qualify for a lower weight class.
Feeling pain in his right leg, Johnson visited the doctor to get it looked at. After some testing and an X-ray performed on his leg, Johnson was informed he had a bone tumor on his right fibula.
"Of course we both broke down," his mother, Ruth Johnson, related, "but I told him that the Lord knows everything that's going on, and He's in control, so there is no need to be negative about it — that Heavenly Father is in charge and he knows everything and to keep upbeat about it."
"(He's) been very optimistic," she added. "It got him down in the sense of cancer, and at first because we didn't know if he'd lose his leg and things like that."
Since his initial diagnosis, Johnson regularly visits the doctor to receive different chemotherapy treatments, ranging from twice-a-week visits to a grueling five treatments in one week. However, throughout it all, Johnson managed to support his wrestling team, traveling to the different tournaments, sometimes even after receiving a treatment earlier in the day.
His support at the wrestling tournaments and throughout the season — despite battling cancer — earned him the Braveheart award from his wrestling coaches at the team's end-of-year banquet.
I was just thinking this is amazing; it's so cool. (Whittingam) came up to me and introduced himself, talked to me, got to know me a little bit. He introduced me to the whole team and told me that my wish was granted — that I am going to Hawaii.
–Jeremiah Johnson
Because of Johnson's love of sports, Tiffany Bloomquist with the Utah chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, thought it perfect to surprise him with a wish prior to the Red and White scrimmage Saturday at Rice Eccles Stadium, where Johnson came to see his favorite football team, the University of Utah, scrimmage for the last time in spring.
Working with Johnson's friends and the University of Utah prior to the game, Bloomquist arranged for sideline passes to the scrimmage. Johnson was told the passes were a birthday present — he turned 18 a day before the scrimmage — and a morning activity before prom later in the evening.
"(Tiffany) just wanted it as magical as she could, and since the scrimmage was coming up and it was his birthday and prom, she just really wanted to make it special," Ruth Johnson said. "I think he's going to be totally blown away," she added.
And blown away he was. Prior to the game starting, head coach Kyle Whittingham introduced himself to Johnson and brought him out to the 50 yard line, where Bloomquist and his parents met him, surprising him with his wish of going to Hawaii.
"I was just thinking this is amazing; it's so cool," Johnson later related. "(Whittingam) came up to me and introduced himself, talked to me, got to know me a little bit. He introduced me to the whole team and told me that my wish was granted — that I am going to Hawaii."
In the team huddle, Johnson was cheered on by the team and received a signed football.
"I had no idea," Johnson said. "I just thought it was cool."
As an added surprise, Johnson's friends arranged to have a Luau theme as part of Saturday night's prom.
The chemo treatments are not finished, however, with a little more than eight treatments remaining. Following next week's chemo treatments, Johnson will receive an MRI and CAT Scan to see if the treatments have helped or to see if the cancer has spread. He'll then undergo surgery to remove the tumor and a part of the bone.
"With this kind of a tumor, they might have to do radiation," Ruth Johnson said. "They'll have to wait and see until after the surgery and the MRI and the CAT Scan."
If all goes well for Johnson, he should finish the chemo treatments sometime in September or October. His plan is to serve a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he is cleared by doctors. However, he'll still have years of checkups and test to go through before he is free from the lasting effects of cancer.
