LEWISBURG W.Va. (WVDN) – For Lewisburg native and current Greenbrier East football player Grayson VanBuren, the path taken in his life so far has not been typical for a young teenager.
Back in August of 2018 and at just 9 years old, VanBuren, the son of Missy and Wayne VanBuren, went to have his tonsils removed. It was after the removal he was originally diagnosed with both leukemia and B Cell lymphoblastic non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, but once the tonsils were removed, the leukemia number dropped, and he was treated for non-Hodgkin’s.
Still, a mother’s nightmare, unfortunately, was staring the family right in the face.
“Those are words you never want to hear, your son has cancer,” Missy said.
Grayson was admitted to the University of Virginia for two weeks to go through all the major testing procedures. Throughout his journey with the disease, Grayson was admitted to the hospital on four different occasions, and each one lasted at least two weeks, sometimes longer, but the UVA Children’s Hospital was a major blessing to Grayson and his family.
“The UVA Children’s Hospital has become part of our family, and we are so grateful to all of them,” Missy stated.
“There was one admission in early 2019 that we honestly didn’t think we would be coming home with our baby boy, but he was determined and he just kept fighting, “Keep pounding,” as he would say. He had an infection and reaction to his chemo and was in the UVA PICU for over two-and-a-half weeks, and at one time he was hooked up to seven IV Machines giving him blood, platelets and medicine. It was the scariest time of our lives,” she continued.
But even through all the struggles, Grayson fought and never let anything get him down.
“He never gave up. He was determined to beat cancer’s butt as he would say,” Missy VanBuren said.
The support of the community made it easy for Grayson to remain positive and it was one group — or team — that helped him more than words can express: The Greenbrier East Spartans football team.
“In September of 2019, we received a call from our good friend Jeff Campbell asking if Grayson would like to be on the sidelines at the Greenbrier East football practice and upcoming game that weekend. On September 18, 2019, Grayson was on the sidelines for his first ever Greenbrier East Football practice. They welcomed him with open arms, and he instantly became part of the Spartan family. He went to practices, games and even ran out of the field through the tunnel. He was even part of the 7-3 team that year, and he was so proud of “his boys, his brothers,” Missy explained.
And that experience gave him another reason to keep fighting and even gave him a dream of his own.
“When he was ever asked what he wanted to do after he was finished with his treatment, he said ‘I want to play football at East’ although he has never played football before. He has always been our baseball player and would even play his games after coming home from having chemo the same day. He felt he was always going to be part of the Spartan family, but he wanted to wear that jersey,” Missy said.
His and his family’s dream came true in June of this year. He had more tests done and they revealed there were no more signs of cancer, and Grayson was cancer free and in remission.
Although he could not play contact sports all last year as a freshman due to his platelets being low, he kept pushing hard to be able to get to a point to play. He received word from his oncologist that if he got his platelet number to a certain percentage, he could give it a go, and that was all Grayson needed to hear.
The process took a little longer than Grayson and his family had hoped, but Grayson is now a member of the Spartan football team and although he could not be too physical until about a month ago, the Spartan coaches told him they would figure something out for him to do on the football field.
So, one day Grayson asked to go to the field to see if former Spartan kicker Noah Dotson was around to maybe help him learn how to kick, and he was.
“Noah was so kind and helpful and even gave Grayson his kicking cleats,” Missy VanVuren stated.
“Grayson has made some great friends over these past few years – one being Monquelle Davis, who was the QB at East – and Noah,” Missy VanBuren explained.
Miraculously, after everything, Grayson hit the field for the first time just a couple of weeks ago.
“On September 9, 2024, Grayson kicked his first punt for the Spartan JV team in Beckley. He is there if they need him, and he hopes he can help in any way, but his dream is to play defense. He’s still learning the plays and working really hard but sometimes it’s difficult for him to remember them all and that’s a lasting effect of the chemo. Chemo brain is real,” Missy stressed.
“It feels great being able to play and being a member of the team. I’ve always wanted to play football ever since I was little, and I finally get to be on the team living my dream,” Grayson said.
A huge Carolina Panthers fan, Grayson wanted his Spartan jersey to have a big number 51 on it to honor Sam Mills, a former Panthers’ linebacker that battled cancer himself and was the original “Keep Pounding” motto speaker. That number was unavailable this year at East, but the number he did get was close to it and has special meaning as well.
“Unfortunately, they didn’t have a jersey with 51 this year so instead he has his good friend Aiden Cole’s number 52. He is so proud to wear that jersey and is excited to be part of the Spartan family once again. This time it means a lot more to him and is his dream to be on that field as a Spartan.
Although Grayson completed his chemo treatment in December of 2020 and is in remission, he is still under the treatment plan until 2025, then he will be in the support group for cancer survivors at UVA. He will need to be seen every year until he is an adult to make sure the cancer does not return. According to stats, 80% of children survive their cancer after 10 years or more, and most of the long-term survivors will stay in remission.
“It’s been a hard and long journey, but we couldn’t have gotten through it without the love and support of our family and friends and our community. There are so many people to thank, and we also thank the West Virginia Kids Cancer Crusaders for their love and support these past five years not only to Grayson, but all the West Virginia kids battling this horrible disease,” Missy VanBuren concluded emotionally.
