National Football League

Cancer survivor wants to show Chiefs' Berry the light at the end of the tunnel

Published Dec. 23, 2014 5:34 p.m. ET

foxsports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Isaiah Boldridge has run a mile in Eric Berry's lymph nodes. In December 2012, then 17 and a junior football/basketball standout at Lawrence (Kan.) High School, Isaiah -- his pals call him "Zay" -- was diagnosed with stage II Hodgkin's lymphoma, the rare cancer that has become synonymous with Berry and the Kansas City Chiefs over the past two months.

"If I were him, I would say, 'Just stay strong,'" Boldridge says. "There are many obstacles that you get in your life, and this is just one that you have to get through.

"There are things that happen that you don't want to happen. It's just the way that you react to it. Just stay positive and say, 'I'm going to get through it.' It's just all about being positive. If you're going to be negative about it, you probably won't get through it."

Step 1: Believe.

Step 2: Pray.

Step 3: Repeat Step 1.

"I really wish I could talk to him," Boldridge says. "You have to keep thinking forward and keep thinking, 'You know, I'm going to be back on the field,' and 'There's no way that I'm going to miss next season.'

"You just always have got to stay positive and act like you don't even have it at all and just keep going through it. And everything will be OK in the end."

After all, he's living proof.

Step 4: Focus on the light, not the tunnel.

This Christmas, Zay Boldridge runs like a gazelle in full flight, free and easy, cutting the way a skipping stone does across the surface of a pond.

"Just starting to feel as good as I had before," says Boldridge, who redshirted this past fall as a wide receiver at Highland (Kan.) Community College and who plans on making Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College the next stop on his long, winding football journey.

"He's as big as he's ever been," mother Kalila adds.

When lymphoma was diagnosed, two years ago this month, doctors also discovered histoplasmosis, a fungal infection of the lungs. Before chemotherapy, Boldridge's lungs had to be cleared, a hurdle before a hurdle. Zay checked into the University of Kansas Medical Center at 160 pounds. And falling. Just like the rest of his mom's universe at that given moment.

Zay with Braxton Bressler on Dec. 10, 2012 -- his birthday -- just a few days after his initial diagnosis.

"Isaiah was even more positive than I was," Kalila says now. "He carried it from Day One."

Mom fought back tears. Zay fought to sit up. On his birthday, December 10, a few days after his initial diagnosis, he leaned forward, extending a hand and his soul to the strongest woman he'd ever known.

"That's OK, Mom," he said. "I got the biggest gift in my life today. I've already been healed."

Another birthday. Another sunrise. Even if it's only a shimmering, fleeting sliver, embrace the glow.

"There were times that he was patting me on the back," she chuckles.

I'll be OK. It'll be OK, Mom.

"As rough as it seemed, at that moment, he wouldn't back down," Kalila recalls. "And I can say now, talking about it, thinking about it, I can feel the stress. But we got through it."

Step 5: It's OK to hate the cancer. Just remember to keep loving yourself first.

Christmas of 2012 was supposed to be a family getaway to Miami, a visit to relatives in warmer climes,a respite near South Beach. Instead, Boldridge spent at least nine days bedridden at KU Med, tubes where tinsel should be. The snowbirds came north instead, joining the fight.

Word got out. Emails and Facebook posts poured in, pleading for strength. During the Lawrence High-Lawrence Free State boys basketball game on Dec. 14, rival fans from both schools agreed to wear purple in honor of Zay's climb. Commemorative T-shirts and wristbands were sold; hats were passed; thousands of dollars were raised to help defray costs.

Zay knows something about the road Eric Berry is on, and would like to speak to him about it.

Houston Texans defensive end Jared Crick, the former Nebraska standout, wrote a text of support. Kansas basketball coach Bill Self sent over a card signed by the entire Jayhawk roster. Friends you never knew you had, all pulling the same rope.

"Keep your faith, keep your prayers," Kalila says. "Even when you feel like you don't need the help or support, take it and then embrace it. Because you're really going to need it -- even on the not-so-rough days."

Most days ran the gamut. Schooling was reduced to half-days, and sports were out. More IVs. More blood work. More medicine. Kill the fungus, then kill the lymphoma.

And then a funny thing started happening -- more awesome than funny, really. As the fungus in the lungs started to die off, the doctors noticed, it was taking bits of the lymphoma with it.

On March 14, 2013, Zay was declared cancer-free. A month later, he was cleared to participate in athletics again, the perfect preamble to his senior year.

A lithe 6-foot-3, Boldridge played defensive end and wide receiver and returned kickoffs. Against Olathe South, on Sept. 5, 2013, Zay scored the first touchdown of the Lions' season. He grabbed three receptions for 40 yards, including a 3-yard score, as the Lions knocked off Olathe Northwest, 35-20, on Sept. 28.

"It was a blessing to have the backup support," Kalila says. "Now, looking back, at the time, it was very overwhelming and we were humbled and grateful for every person out there that was praying, or sending me little messages or simply telling us their story, that they had been through it and there is a light at the end of the tunnel."

Step 6: Pay it forward.

Light and love. It's all there, #BerryStrong. Waiting.

"It's a little bit shocking, thinking about someone who's dealing with the same thing that I was," Zay says of the Chiefs' Pro Bowl safety. "I really wish I could say something to him."

For now, though, actions say plenty. BabyJay's Legacy of Hope, a Lawrence-based non-profit that provides financial and moral support to families of children undergoing cancer treatment, got wind of the Boldridges, presenting $400 worth of gift cards to the family in 2012.

Ever since, the family has made a point in December to return the kindness, to match the spirit. Last Christmas, Zay, his mom and his brother and sister assembled 10 gift bags -- filled with toiletries, sundries, shampoo, coloring books, crayons and small toys -- to be given anonymously to families forced to spend their holidays in hospitals, tending to their angels.

Friends made up these signs during Zay's battle with cancer. Now, he gives back to those facing similar challenges.

For more information on Isaiah Boldridge's journey, visit Facebook.com/PrayforZay.

For more information on BabyJay's Legacy of Hope, visit www.babyjayslegacy.org.

"A lot of times, you're grabbing your child and just running out the door," says Erica Souter, vice president of BabyJays. "So it does help. A lot.

"We like having families that we've helped help us, knowing that they're doing well and they're able to give back. Because they've been through that, they know what it's like. It's just awesome to have them be a part of it."

So awesome, in fact, that the Boldridges decided, this time around, to make up 15 bags for distribution.

"He's always been a caring person," Kalilia says of Zay. "But I've actually seen him in the last two years, getting involved with the gift bags. And being excited about giving back, rather than receiving."

This Christmas, Zay Boldridge is in the shape of his life, pain-free, pushing toward 200 pounds. But it's bigger if you count the heart.

You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.