Northern Colorado football player finishes leukemia treatments to return to field  ...Saudi Arabia

Myles McClarity graded as perfect in his recent role as a leukemia patient, one of his doctors said.

McClarity, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Northern Colorado, will soon face a far different, and better, challenge: as a college football player.

After 3 ½ years of treatments, McClarity will have no restrictions on the field when preseason camp opens later this summer. A standout high school defensive back at Fountain-Fort Carson, McClarity will be able to hit and be hit on a football field for the first time since he arrived at UNC more than a year ago. McClarity lost between 50 and 60 pounds during his treatments, dropping to as low as 120 pounds. He now weighs about 195 and is listed at 6 feet tall on the UNC roster. To this point, McClarity has worked out with the team as much as he could short of contact.

“I’m getting there,” he said. “Just trying to build up. I’m going against people (teammates) that have been doing this nonstop their entire lives at the highest level. I am a good way behind still, but I’m just trying to take every day to get back where I was.”

Diagnosed in December 2021, McClarity finished his treatments last month and cancer is no longer detected in his body. He celebrated the milestone last month on an emotional day at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora with the traditional bell-ringing ceremony, signifying the end of this stage of his fight. He’s been in remission since early in the treatment phase, according to retired Children’s Hospital Colorado pediatric hematologist and oncologist Dr. David Harford, who treated McClarity for most of the young man’s battle.

McClarity will continue to be followed and watched closely over the next several years. He won’t be considered cured until five years after the end of treatment.

McClarity is in a good place against an aggressive type of pediatric leukemia. Harford said. Almost four years ago, as a newly diagnosed 16-year-old high school student, McClarity didn’t know his future or what he faced. Now, he can focus on preparing his body to be a college athlete. UNC coaches said with time, McClarity will contribute on the field.

“Guys who know how to handle adversity in the right way, they thrive in this sport and in life,” defensive coordinator Preston Hadley said. “He’s had to overcome more than anyone.”

Harford said McClarity as a young adult or adolescent patient was “perfect” in embracing the need for a team approach to his care. This calls in nurses, doctors, his family, mental health and nutritionists among other professionals

“You could tell, as I knew him early, that the mood was low,” said Harford, who met McClarity about three weeks after diagnosis. “He was out of football. But as he moved forward, as he continued to do better … he was very strong in how he approached his chemotherapy. He would come in and ‘I’m going to get this done and there’s not anything that’s going to slow me down.’”

A treatable leukemia

McClarity had just wrapped up a strong junior season at safety for Fountain-Fort Carson High when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a blood cancer affecting a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes. It starts in the bone marrow, according to the Cleveland Clinic. ALL is the most common type of pediatric cancer for patients from birth up to about 18 years old, Harford said.

There are two subtypes of ALL: T-cell ALL and B-cell ALL. McClarity had T-cell ALL, which is less common and more aggressive of the subtypes. Both B-cell and T-cell ALL subtypes are more treatable among pediatric patients than in adults. Harford said in kids the 5-year survival rate for B-cell ALL is about 90%. In T-cell ALL, the rate is about 80%. The survival rate drops below 50% for adults.

“Leukemia as an adult is a far worse prognosis than leukemia as a child,” Harford said.

Children’s Hospital Colorado physical therapist Adrienne Enright spent a lot of time with McClarity through his treatments. Enright regularly worked with McClarity in multiple sessions a week during his in-patient admissions. Enright said a big part of a physical therapist’s job with a leukemia patient is to limit de-conditioning during treatment.

Enright described McClarity as a favorite among hospital staff. He was  polite, sweet, respectful and he expressed an interest in Enright and other hospital staff, inquiring about them during interactions.

Enright helped McClarity learn to use a walker or crutches when he had a painful hip infection, also as a result of the treatment. Enright worked with McClarity on moving around the house when he was weakened or didn’t feel well. She said their sessions included guidance on getting in and out of the shower and navigating stairs.

McClarity’s background and conditioning as an athlete helped him weather the treatments and rehabilitation, Harford and Enright both said.

“He just wanted to keep pushing and pushing,” Enright said. “I think his football background, in that training, he was used to pushing to failure. I was like, ‘no, it’s a little different. We’re in a hospital and you have cancer, we’re not pushing to failure.’”

Chemotherapy ‘ravages’ the body

McClarity has contended with treatments and difficult side effects such as hair loss, fatigue, infection, nausea, severe pancreatitis and Type 1 diabetes from the chemotherapy. He previously took insulin injections. He now wears an insulin pump system.

McClarity estimated he was admitted to the hospital about five times through the course of his treatments. The hospital admissions came because of other illnesses or complications.

“Chemo, it just ravages your body and it affects people in all different ways,” said McClarity’s mother, Faith Getty. “They said any side effect that he could get from chemo, he got it.”

Getty relocated to Greeley not long ago to be closer to McClarity, to take him to treatments and she now works at UNC. Getty is a human resources specialist in the division of student affairs.

In the first few months after diagnosis, McClarity dealt with serious side effects of the treatment. In February 2022, McClarity developed a bone infection that left him unable to walk. He developed pancreatitis in the spring, which was a serious and frightening time. He also had COVID-19.

McClarity said the pancreatitis led to the worst pain he’d ever felt in his life to that point. He was hospitalized in Colorado Springs and then sent to Aurora where he was in isolation for an extended period of time.

“Indescribable pain,” McClarity said. “Just being alone, in that kind of pain, it almost broke me,” he said. “That was probably the worst I’ve ever been. Not just in cancer, just at all.”

Signs before diagnosis

McClarity began feeling terrible the day after a state high school playoff loss at Montrose in November 2021. He was nauseated, had no appetite and “couldn’t really stay awake,” he recalled.

The game was played a week before Thanksgiving, and McClarity’s lack of appetite continued through the holiday. McClarity didn’t feel any better to return to school after the break.

Within a couple weeks, he began experiencing nosebleeds that were difficult to control. One led to a visit to an emergency room in Colorado Springs, followed by a rushed trip to Children’s Hospital Colorado on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora where McClarity was eventually diagnosed.

“The first three or four days were just a whirlwind,” Getty said. “Then from there, it was just paperwork and doctors coming in and specialists coming in and everyone’s telling you things you don’t really understand.”

Following the diagnosis, McClarity didn’t return to school until fall 2022. The football season would’ve been his senior year, but he was not able to play with ongoing treatments. The Colorado High School Activities Association, the governing body of high school sports and activities, granted McClarity another year of eligibility for 2023.

McClarity walked for graduation with his classmates in May 2023. He played football again in the fall and finished school at the end of the semester. McClarity enrolled at UNC as a preferred walk-on in spring 2024. As a preferred walk-on, McClarity was assured a roster spot but no scholarship money.

The program was interested in McClarity because “he’s a good football player,” Bears head coach Ed Lamb said.

Getty said as they looked back on the 2021 season, though McClarity had a strong statistical year, there were signs something was off. They noticed bruising on his body a few weeks before the playoff game against Montrose. McClarity had not been prone to bruising in the past. Getty said they attributed the bruises to the physical nature of the sport and McClarity playing harder.

McClarity said he remembered being “dead-dog tired from the first snap” during one game late in the year. He also had trouble catching his breath and asked to come out of the game for a few plays.

“I told myself ‘not again’ because they scored the play right after I tapped out,” McClarity said. “I toughed it out. Looking back, that’s probably what it was (the leukemia).”

‘A reason to work harder’

McClarity was among Fountain-Fort Carson’s leaders in tackles during his junior season in 2021 before he was diagnosed. McClarity finished the year with 74 tackles in 11 games, second on the team in tackles only to all-state linebacker Tai Faavae.

McClarity said through high school he received interest from programs such as CSU, UNC, Wyoming and South Dakota State. UNC was interested in McClarity as a player, though he was being treated for leukemia. Lamb said UNC would not rule out recruiting a player who could make a significant winning contribution even with an injury or illness that the program feels can be overcome. Lamb said McClarity showed the potential to be a scholarship athlete, and he’ll have the chance to earn one.

McClarity attended a camp at UNC in summer 2023 before his final semester at Fountain-Fort Carson. He met coaches and showed energy and ability even while still in a treatment phase. Hadley, the defensive coordinator, later visited with McClarity in Colorado Springs and extended an offer for McClarity to walk on to the team.

McClarity had 51 total tackles in 12 games with three interceptions and a sack in 2023.

The offer was McClarity’s only Division I offer and he was happy to accept, given the uncertainty of his status during treatment. He found out later he wouldn’t be able to play right away. Harford said McClarity couldn’t take contact in the latest phase of treatment known as maintenance. The treatments affected bone marrow that increases the risk of bruising and other trauma. McClarity until recently also had an implanted port in place near his shoulder and upper chest to allow access to draw blood and inject medications.

“It’s hard to offer money to someone who can’t play,” McClarity said. “It’s never been any ill will. It’s just been another reason for me to work harder.”

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