Smiths Station football coach gains new perspective from sister's battle with breast cancer

SMITHS STATION, Ala. -- Smiths Station football coach Jason Dukes still remembers where he was when he got the news.

He had just started camp as a rookie with the Jacksonville Jaguars in August 1996 after four years as a starting offensive lineman at Georgia Tech. Struggling to fulfill a lifelong dream of playing in the NFL, football was his world.

And then his world changed.

"I got a call from my family, and they told me my sister had been diagnosed with breast cancer," he said. "It was unusual because my family was wanting me to concentrate on football and making the team, so they kind of kept it from me until she was getting prepared to have her surgery."

It was a difficult dose of reality for Dukes. Even though he was experiencing the dream of every young football player, what was going on at home weighed heavily on his mind.

He was just 22 years old at the time. His sister, Deirdre, was barely 31. At young ages they had to face mortality and the prospect that, even with treatment, there was the possibility that she wouldn't make it.

"Anytime you hear cancer, the first thing you think is that you aren't going to live long," Deirdre said.

"You ask why," Jason said, "that a person who is a good person, a sweet person who has never done anybody wrong could have a disease that could possibly take them from you at such a young age. Sometimes there is no reason why."

And sometimes even the most difficult situations are what mold people into who they are. Faith without facing the unknown, Jason said, isn't faith at all. Only when something truly challenges your faith will you see it grow.

Over the coming months and years -- which were full of surgeries, chemotherapies and more health concerns brought

on by the treatment -- Deirdre's faith and strength grew. In effect, Dukes was impacted immeasurably and is now able to instill those lessons into the athletes he coaches today.

A sister's strength

To put it mildly, cancer is a difficult obstacle. In addition to the disease and side effects of treatment, further complications are common.

It may go into remission, but it must always be monitored. Sometimes, chemotherapy or other treatment can deplete an immune system and make a person susceptible to other illnesses. Congestive heart failure, pneumonia -- it's all possible.

Deirdre was faced with two strokes after her initial battle with the disease. It made the struggle that much more difficult.

"Sometimes you look at the person and wonder how they can be that strong," Jason said. "You wonder if you could do that."

For Deirdre, there was never a question in her mind what she was fighting for, and that gave her strength. It was her faith that kept her fighting and, in turn, it provided strength for her family.

"It really tests the mettle of a family, and it requires the family to come together," Jason said.

"My sister is a person who is very strong in her faith. I don't say it enough, but she's the spiritual foundation of our family."

The family is closer today because of what she went through, Jason said. Even while he was away at football during the initial stages of her fight, he would take a plane back to Augusta, Ga., where his family was at the time.

"I could only stay for a little bit, and that was tough," Dukes said. "But it was great to hear her encourage me to keep on doing what I was doing when she was in the midst of a very difficult battle."

Deirdre said she just knew she had a purpose, a reason to fight and survive.

"God had me for a reason," she said. "Everything that happened to me, I understand it and I accept it and I ask God what it is that he's trying to tell me. He wanted me to stay on this earth for a reason."

An affecting fight

One reason, perhaps, is the impact that her fight had on her brother, among others.

As a young man whose entire world had revolved around football for years, Jason quickly realized a fact that many young athletes don't: Life continues, with or without the sport.

That August, after returning to Jacksonville from a trip home to see his sister, Jason suffered an ankle injury.

For a rookie trying to make a team, suffering an injury in training camp can be a deal breaker. It was a difficult time for him.

But not as difficult as it could have been.

"The whole time, I was thinking -- regardless of what I'm going through, she's going through something a lot worse than me," Jason said.

"Worst case scenario, I get cut from the football team. That ain't the end of the world. She was fighting a much more important battle with much bigger consequences."

It helped Jason gain perspective as a young adult. It also helped him to remain positive through difficult times.

"When you see somebody solider through that stuff and still have a wonderful attitude approaching the day, that does a lot to inspire a person because it makes your problems not seem so big," Jason said. "A person is faced with the possibility of not making it, but they've got a smile on their face. That impacts you."

Sharing the message

And through Jason, it can impact others.

He said that the lessons he learned are lessons he can pass on to the athletes he coaches at Smiths Station or wherever else his career may take him.

Today, Deirdre is cancer-free. She said that she is in great health and enjoying life. But she and Jason both know to be grateful in the moment, because nothing is ever guaranteed.

"You begin to cherish every moment you have with a person," he said. "Health is something that we take for granted. It can be fleeting. It can be taken away from us at anytime."

Jason said his message to his athletes is hope. Once a person loses hope, he said, they've lost a lot. As long as there is hope and faith, there is a reason to fight.

"We all will face tough times," he said. "It's part of life. You're going to get knocked down. It's the ability to overcome adversity, the ability to understand that my situation today doesn't have to be my situation tomorrow.

"As long as I keep fighting, as long as I keep clawing toward that point, I've got a chance."

David Mitchell, Follow David on Twitter @leprepsports

This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 11:03 PM with the headline "Smiths Station football coach gains new perspective from sister's battle with breast cancer ."