MAUMEE, Ohio — As a freshman in high school, you’re learning the ropes. Trying to figure out how to find your classes. Trying to fit in. But that wasn’t much of a challenge for Maumee High School freshman Izzy Yancy.
“Brings exactly what we want from a student-athlete,” Maumee girls basketball head coach, Rafael Soler, said. “Gets after it in the classroom. I think she just brings that same energy with everything that she does.”
“Basketball is definitely one of the most important things to me,” Izzy said. “I’ve played since I was little. It’s the thing I do when I have a bad day. It makes me feel like I always have people with me, because of the team. I definitely have a great team environment. It’s just my favorite thing to do.”
But that sport she loves had to be put on hold. Two weeks ago, she noticed some bruises that weren’t feeling normal.
At the direction of an athletic trainer, she went to have them checked out. What they found was a rare form of cancer called Chronic myeloid leukemia.
“There’s no words to describe how I felt,” her mother, Nicole Yancy, said. “When we found out, we both found out at the same time, so it didn’t matter how I felt at that moment. It was just to make sure she was OK. It’s nothing that a parent or child should ever hear."
Chronic myeloid leukemia is normally found only in adults.
“When I first was told, I didn’t really process it because I didn’t want to believe it was true,” Izzy said. “I was a little upset because I didn’t understand why it had to happen to me. When you hear cancer, you think you’re going to die. At least I did.”
For now, Izzy isn’t cleared to return to playing, but they’re hoping this setback is just part of a much bigger comeback story.
“I genuinely just love being able to still be here even though I can’t play yet,” she said. “But I’ll be back soon. I definitely will.”
Nicole said the Yancy family is emphasizing positivity.
“We’re just trying to stay positive at this moment,” Nicole said. “She could live a long healthy life. I plan on seeing her go to college and I plan on seeing her get married and I plan on seeing my grandkids.”
Soler said keeping Izzy off the court may be difficult, though.
"I think as soon as she’s allowed to come back she’s going to try to play right away. It’s just who she is," he said.
If Izzy is cleared to return, she said she'll have a renewed appreciation for the game.
“I definitely won’t take any games for granted or anything because it’s definitely put into perspective how fast you can lose everything,” said Izzy.
Izzy is a part of a research study for CML in children. Her family is hoping they can find answers for other kids in her situation.
Maumee High School is having a benefit at the girls basketball game on Dec. 17 against Evergreen.
The game will be an orange out, which is the color to support leukemia awareness.