Nassau County high schooler to play in homecoming football game after beating cancer
JERICHO, Long Island (WABC) -- For Brandt Morgan, football is life or death.
Two years ago, at just 15 years old, the Jericho High School varsity quarterback was diagnosed with Stage 3 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
"I collapsed in front of one my good friends of mine that came to visit me and... when I went to the hospital and went to the emergency room, I found out the cancer spread from my throat to my chest in less than a week," Morgan said.
The student-athlete recalled the five-month period before he began chemotherapy treatment, where he got sick every single day.
His two-year treatment resulted in temporary nerve damage. His rehabilitation journey back to football included learning how to walk again.
"Every day I'd work out my lower body when I was hooked up to an IV, and my upper body when I was detached at night," Morgan said.
He refused to stay at the hospital unless he could set up a gym, which helped motivate him through mental and physical challenges.
Cancer was a game Morgan refused to lose. He has played in all five games so far this football season.
"To see him from last year to this year on the football field, mentally, he's the toughest kid out here... No young man should ever have to go through that and I'm glad he came out on top of it," Jericho High School's Head Varsity Football Coach Brendan Lahdi said.
Morgan said just suiting up for his homecoming football game this upcoming Saturday, is a win itself.
Morgan and his team will face off against Westbury at 2 p.m.
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