Each year, more than 9,500 children in between the ages of 0 and 14 in the United States will receive the life-altering news that they have cancer. Childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivors are 57% more likely to develop depression and 29% more likely to develop anxiety in the years following treatment than their healthy peers. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and across the country, there are more than 1,100 Team IMPACT teammates who have experienced their own cancer journeys. Team IMPACT works to ensure that every child living with cancer has a team behind them, supporting them through every step of the cancer journey.
Every day, the student-athletes in our program learn and grow alongside their Team IMPACT teammates, creating bonds that bring light and laughter to even the darkest days. This month, we highlight and honor the strength and joy that these children bring to Team IMPACT, through the eyes of their very own teammates.
For Danja Stafford Collins, a grad student on the Utah Valley women’s basketball team, becoming a Team IMPACT Fellow, working with children and other student-athletes in the program, and meeting her teammate Emery reframed her perspective on her own family’s childhood cancer journey. “When my brother was going through chemotherapy, sports was the only thing that held our family together,” Danja shared. “While we didn’t have the opportunity to be part of Team IMPACT then, I am seeing now how impactful it is for me to heal on the other side of it and for me to be able to give back and know that I am helping someone through sport the way sport helped me.”
Danja began her collegiate basketball career at Santa Clara, where her team was matched with 16-year-old Mia. When Danja transferred to Utah Valley, she knew she wanted to bring Team IMPACT to her new campus. Earlier this summer, five-year-old Emery joined the team, and the Wolverines gained so much more than a new teammate. “Emery is the light that we all needed. She is the missing piece of our puzzle,” Danja said. “She brings the light and the joy, on and off the floor.”
Emery was diagnosed with b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia a year ago and was in the last months of her treatment when her mom, Talia, heard about Team IMPACT. “You can lose your hair, and it makes you feel sad,” Emery said of her cancer journey. “I don’t like cancer.” But with her teammates by her side, Emery’s journey began to feel a little lighter. “They send me videos when I am in the hospital, and that makes me feel happy!” she said.
Though the match is still in the early stages, Emery and her teammates have already taught each other so much about perseverance and teamwork. “So far, this has given us something for Emery to look forward to,” Talia said. “Every time we drive by the school, she says, ‘Hey, that’s my team! Gooooo UVU!’”
That immediate sense of acceptance and recognition was also felt by JP, now 20, when he joined the Kansas basketball team in 2020. In the four years since, JP has become an integral part of the Kansas basketball program. When JP joined the Jayhawks, he was in the middle of treatment for sarcoma, a type of cancer that originated near JP’s spine. “Every kid will have struggles throughout their journey,” JP said. “It’s very important for every kid to be able to do what brings them joy and not have to worry about cancer getting in the way.”
For JP and his family, that joy has always been found in Kansas Athletics. When JP signed to become an official member of the KU basketball team, he expected the excitement and joy that came with that moment. But what he didn’t expect was the impact he would have on the entire culture of Jayhawks basketball. “We’ve been with JP for four years, so we’ve seen his ups and downs, going through chemo, his treatments,” said Dillon Wilhite, who joined the team a year after JP. “Sharing that connection with him has been such a blessing.”
When JP first joined the team, his cancer had taken his ability to walk. Slowly and steadily, JP worked hard and pushed himself, with his new teammates there every step of the way. “I went up to KU for the final day of boot camp, and I walked 94 feet down and back on the court,” he recalled. “The whole team was behind me and supporting me the whole time, just like how they have been supporting me since the first day I joined the team.” When Dillon thinks about that day, it brings back a lot of emotion and pride for his teammate. “We’ve learned that JP is a fighter,” he said. “He inspires all of us and motivates us every day. He brings a smile to our faces.”
JP’s journey has been long, and after relapsing in 2022, JP is back in active treatment. But his time with the Jayhawks has lightened the load and softened some of the bad moments with some of the best memories. “Team IMPACT has allowed my family and I to have extra support throughout our journey,” JP said. “They have given us the opportunity to have days where we don’t have to think or worry about my cancer. The Team IMPACT family is another shoulder I can lay my head on and rest when I’m tired.”
