1 week Ago By Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
Apr. 27—ESTANCIA — The doctors tried radiation. They even cut into Olavio Hernandez's right leg four times, hoping to dig out the cancer in his knee.
Neither option succeeded.Inevitably perhaps, the day arrived. The Estancia High School sophomore was face to face with his doctor to hear a diagnosis that frankly would rattle and shatter most adults.
"We tried everything," his doctor told him."They told me, 'It's time to amputate your leg.' " Hernandez said.
"I broke down in tears, I couldn't really take it in."The next day, his leg was gone.Two years later, Hernandez has become a remarkable beacon.
The National Federation of State High School Associations, or NFHS, recently bestowed upon Hernandez, now a senior, its Spirit of Sport award. His award covers Section 6, which includes New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The award itself is given to athletes who overcome adversity.
Hernandez meets this description, to put it mildly.His cancer, monophasic synovial sarcoma, unfortunately could neither be eradicated nor removed.The cancer claimed almost all of his leg, and his young life pivoted most unexpectedly.
Three months following the amputation, he was outfitted with a prosthetic leg. It took him a full month, he said, just to learn to walk again on his own, without crutches. He still walks with a distinctive gait, as you'd expect.
"There were a lot of adjustments," he said. "At first, it was very heavy, but I got used to it."And from this progress came unexpected questions Hernandez found himself asking.
Could he be an athlete again? Was it even possible?The answer washed over him on a day at a local park, when Hernandez showed up to watch some of his friends shoot some baskets."I was with my friends, and they were telling me to shoot it," he said. "I was down a little bit, but I didn't think I could do it.
"He could."It was that day," he said. "It was like a switch that turned on.
"Naturally, there were, and still are, complications. He had one leg, and there was no way to know how mobile or effective he'd be on a basketball court if he decided to make a comeback.But what he knew for certain was, with some enthusiastic and unwavering support from his peers and coaches, he wanted to try.
Was determined to try."He was unsure at first, because he didn't know how this was all going to work," said Bears basketball coach Daniel Pierce. "I told him, even if you can't play, you need to be with the team.
That drove him a little bit; people didn't care what happened. He kind of embraced that, motivated him to ..
. give it a try."Hernandez lost his leg a few weeks after his sophomore season ended.
He didn't play as a junior. He returned to compete for Estancia last season.And now, for the first time, he's playing baseball for the Bears, too, as a pitcher and corner infielder.
"I didn't know if I could do it." said Hernandez, 18, born and raised in Estancia. And baseball is a unique challenge, but clearly one he embraces.
"It's hard getting around the field. As long as I hit the ball far enough to get to first base, I'm good."His successes on the field, or court, are of course completely irrelevant.
Given where he was two years ago, all he's done since then count as reasons to celebrate. And now, against the odds, Hernandez is a multi-sport athlete."I'm definitely proud of myself," he said.
"I even surprised myself, honestly. I didn't think I could do it."What makes Hernandez tick, Pierce said, tipped the scales in his desire to become an athlete again.
"I think it's just his love for sports," Pierce said. "I got the privilege of being around him since he was little, and every single day, watching him outside during recess, he always had a ball in his hand. A football, a basketball, a baseball.
He was always involved with some sort of sport."I think when all this happened, his love (for) sports kind of drove him through the whole process. I have never seen a kid so driven.
He is such a tough kid, and he never wanted to be treated different. ..
. It didn't matter how much he hurt, or how much it was bothering him, he would just find a way to fight through it."It's this attitude that largely explains why the NFHS singled him out.
"It's a great feeling," Hernandez said of the award. "I feel like I'm inspiring a lot of people. Every time at a basketball game, so many people came up to me, telling me I'm an inspiration.
It was the best feeling. I've never felt like that."And the NFHS award speaks as much to Hernandez's character as it does his determination.
"He's such a good kid," Pierce said. "He hasn't let this affect him as a person. He's the same kid now as he was back then.
That speaks to his character."The award, a plaque, arrived earlier this week."I even got the chills when I heard (I was getting it)," Hernandez said, smiling.
"I was like, 'No way.' I didn't believe it."He had to acknowledge that his name, and his story, had reached outside New Mexico's borders and that he was touching lives of people he knew and people he had never met.
"It made my heart warm," he said.Hernandez graduates in a few weeks from Estancia. Wherever his path leads — he is going to attend barber school, he said — his intention is to give back to others with physical limitations like him, and perhaps offer them a chance to find the same hopeful outlook on life he once had to find for himself.
"I definitely want to leave a memory here," he said. "(And help people) never give up, and to keep pushing themselves."Said Pierce: "He's always the light in the room.
He brings positivity, he brings energy. Kids listen to him. The younger kids love him, his teammates love him.
He has that aura about him. He will light up a room when he walks in, (he) really does."Not only a room.
Consider this powerful image, for a moment:Hernandez, bat in hand, swatting a ground ball to shortstop, and hobbling and hustling down to first base as best he can. Sure, his stat sheet isn't filled with stolen bases or stand-up triples, but this snapshot of this young man's heart and strength is deeply profound to observe in person, and quite substantially moving. Perhaps for him, this is just a game.
For anyone else, bearing witness to this leaves you somewhat in awe.Spirit? Yes, indeed.He played basketball on one leg.
He's playing baseball on one leg.He is living life on one leg.And Olavio Hernandez is winning.
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