Coaches battle Cancer

“It’s the phone call you never want to get. It’s something no one ever wants to experience. But at 47 years old, that’s where I am—fighting cancer.”

Those are the words of longtime Greer High School coach Travis Perry, who began his battle with bile duct cancer earlier this summer.

It’s a fight Perry never saw coming, but one he plans to win with faith.

“I always felt like I was in control of my life. I had everything under control. I took care of my family. I took care of myself. I always tried to live right and treat people right,” Perry said. “When you find out you have cancer, it’s bigger than you are. As much as I like to be in control, there’s not a thing in the world I can do about it. You have to submit these things to God. That’s the only way you can get through it.”

As difficult as the road might feel at times, Perry isn’t alone in his journey.

“Cancer doesn’t care about rivalries or your opponents on the field or what you’re doing. It’s a disease that doesn’t discriminate,” said Blue Ridge coach Travis Henson, who has recently battled cancer in his kidney. “I’ve seen that even those people you coach against come together to fight against cancer.”

That’s exactly what Henson’s varsity baseball team did in March during the Strike Out Cancer event. The Tigers took on Greenville and each player on both teams played in honor of someone fighting cancer.

“The game was really symbolic of the fight against cancer,” Henson said. “You fight and fight, and sometimes it takes a little extra (for us, it was nine innings) to win. As coaches, we always talk about competing, but the fight against cancer is one of the biggest ones any of us will ever face.”

Hills and valleys
Henson’s struggle with the disease dates back to 2015, when the Tigers had just won their first region championship in a while.

“Life is sweet and it’s short,” he said. “We’d just come off a 17-game winning streak and the first region championship, and then here’s this. That’s just the way life works. You go through hills and valleys. Your faith is what’s constant.

“My wife took me to the emergency room because I was throwing up sick. They did a scan and found the tumor. Fortunately they were able to remove the kidney before it had spread throughout my body.”

Henson said, even through the bad news, he couldn’t help but smile.

“I went on the day of graduation practice in 2015 to get the results of my scan. I head from the doctor and came hopping back into graduation practice all excited. The assistant principal looked at me and said, ‘I’m so glad you got a great report.’ I said, ‘Well, I actually didn’t get a great report. They found a tumor on my kidney and there’s a good possibility it’s cancer.’ She said, ‘I’m so sorry. I thought everything was good because of the smile on your face and the positivity.’ I told her, ‘I’m going to have that no matter what.’ That’s because of my faith and what God has proven, what he’s promised and what he’s provided.”

Henson has been cancer free since his surgery.

For the better
Perry said he struggled with his diagnosis at first, but he didn’t take too much time before beginning the fight.

“For two weeks, I really struggled. It was such a shock,” Perry said. “Cancer can change your life for the better or it can change it for the worse. I decided I wasn’t going to let it change my life for the worse. I’m going to live my life for the better. My faith will get me through.

“All of us go through adversity at some time or another. That’s what I’m going through right now. I never imagined in a million years I’d be dealing with cancer, but this is just one of those things there’s really no rhyme or reason for. I hope I can use this battle to help others. My number one prayer through all of this is that the Lord would use me in a bigger way than I’ve ever been used before.”

The Yellow Jacket coach is facing three cycles of chemotherapy and a potential surgery down the road.

“Both my doctors have told me that it is treatable and curable with surgery,” Perry said. “My faith is in God and I know he can cure me. I firmly believe God’s going to heal me and I’m going to win this battle.”

billy@greercitizen.com | 877-2076