As the referee blows the whistle signifying half time, John Anderton, a junior at Palo Alto High School, runs off the soccer field, eager to play the second half. His green Paly jersey ripples in the wind, and his quick feet move back and forth as he weaves through the herd of other players strolling towards the sidelines. Anderton snatches his water bottle from the bench and listens as his coach and teammates congratulate him for the goal he scored right before the halftime whistle. He looks down, concentrating on what he can do to improve for the second half.  He listens intently and soon enough, the whistle blows. He sprints back to his position as forward, as he runs by, people on the sidelines see the blur of his number two jersey flying past.

It is hard to believe that less than four years ago, Anderton barely had enough strength to prop his body up to watch soccer from his hospital bed.

In 2005, when Anderton was in seventh grade, doctors discovered he had a case of Ewing’s Sarcoma, an extraordinarily rare type of cancer in his bones. The cancer, which was localized to a tumor in his rib cage, required surgery and chemotherapy. His battle against cancer lasted one year.

As he struggled to hold on to his life, soccer became a way to escape from the pain, and a way to stay connected to a world he loved. By the time Anderton was able to return to the field, he discovered the connection had grown even deeper.

Soccer has always been a major part of Anderton’s life. His father, Mark Anderton, grew to love the sport as a boy growing up in North Africa, where Anderton’s grandfather worked as a diplomat. While living there, Mark became immersed in soccer culture, and passed on his love for the sport to his son, who started playing at age three.

Anderton grew up reading about professional soccer. He constantly read the World Soccer Magazine, and began to develop favorite teams and players.

Anderton joined the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) in kindergarten and in fifth grade he made the transition to a California Youth Soccer Association (CYSA) club team. He began to play more competitively and develop a greater appreciation for the sport.

In seventh grade, Anderton had a plan for the next five years of his soccer career. He envisioned himself succeeding in club soccer, helping his team win tournament after tournament. He imagined himself spending long afternoons at the soccer field perfecting his touch. He even saw himself eventually trying out for the Paly soccer team his freshman year, persevering through the dreaded two-mile run.

And then it happened.

As Anderton was biking home from school one Friday afternoon in February of 2005, he felt an extraordinary pain in his chest and was suddenly fatigued. He could barely force himself to power the pedals all the way home. As he slowly walked through the front door of his house, he knew that something was not right.

His mother, Gail Kaiser, suspected pneumonia. She took his temperature, which was a dangerously high 104 degrees, and she and Anderton immediately left for the Stanford Hospital emergency room.

Anderton sat in the waiting room, nervously anticipating the doctors arrival. He was unsure what was wrong because the inconceivable pain was greater than anything he had ever experienced. Worried thoughts rushed through his head as he awaited the diagnosis.

Soon, a nurse came out and took Anderton to an examination room where a doctor questioned him and listened to his breathing. When the doctor ordered an X-ray of his chest, Anderton’s worry increased.

“After all this, I kind of thought I had something worse,” Anderton said. “But I still hoped that I just had pneumonia.”

Doctors could not determine the cause of his symptoms, and sent him to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital for an MRI.

That evening, the doctor entered the examination room with a grim face. The MRI confirmed the family’s worst fear: Anderton had cancer.

“My stomach felt like it dropped out of my body,” Mrs. Kaiser said. “I was shocked.”

A group of doctors then entered the room to ask him if he knew what cancer was.

“I just sat there and replied to them, ‘You die’,” Anderton said.

Anderton had an Askin’s Tumor in his rib cage, an extremely rare tumor that is often lethal. His left lung was also filled with fluid. The morning after his diagnosis, Anderton had surgery to implant two chest tubes in his lung to drain the fluid, thus beginning what would become a year-long treatment process.

It was difficult for Anderton to emotionally process the news. Almost a week passed before the severity of his condition hit him. Anderton realized that he might not make it through his illness.

“I didn’t cry when I was first told I had cancer,” Anderton said. “I was in shock and awe. I cried a week later at the hospital when I realized that I wasn’t able to do anything at all, when I realized that I might die.”

His parents knew that losing the ability to play soccer really hurt their son. Unable to play, Anderton still wanted to stay connected to his passion.

“When he got sick, we got cable,” Mr. Anderton said. “He was then able to watch a lot of the soccer he used to read about. That was the one thing he would look forward to after a week of chemo when he came back home. Being sick forced him to look at the technical side of the game.”

In order for Anderton to fully recover, the tumor had to be surgically removed. To John’s father, the removal of the tumor was one of the lowest points.

“He was in pain,” Mr. Anderton said. “The operation was really long, and he had to stay in the ICU for a couple of days. He was pretty beat up.”

After the tumor was removed, Anderton underwent two different types of chemotherapy: outpatient and four-day treatment. During outpatient therapy, he would go to the hospital for 12 hours to receive medication, and then return home. This was better because it was not as intensive and he was also able to sleep in his own bed.

During the four-day sessions, he would come to the hospital every third week and be assigned to a room to undergo a nonstop treatment. Anderton often had to share his room with another patient.

“It was the worst if you had to share a room with a baby because it would cry all the time,” Anderton said. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep.”

For those four days, Anderton would recieve medicine through an IV in his chest.

Anderton was always exhausted. Almost all of his time was spent in his hospital bed. For a teenage boy used to moving around and playing sports, he missed simple pleasures like walking around without help from others.

One of his most exciting moments during chemotherapy was finally getting a chance to leave his hospital bed. He called it an “accomplishment” to be able to walk down the short hallway.

In addition to fatigue, Anderton’s stomach weakened. The first time he ate during chemotherapy, he threw up soon after. He learned that his body was not able to take in nourishment during chemotherapy. Any taste in his mouth would make him queasy; even swallowing his own spit made him vomit.

“As the day wore on, I would feel more and more sick,” Anderton said. “I would spit into a bucket next to my bed so I wouldn’t throw up.”

Because he was not able to eat, Anderton experienced massive weight loss during his chemotherapy. His weight dropped to a shocking number in the low sixties.

“He lost a whole lot of weight during chemo,” Mr. Anderton said. “I stopped counting after 20-25 percent of his weight was skin and bones.”

Anderton’s ability to think, focus and concentrate also suffered. When his mother tried to hold a conversation with him, he was too tired and too sick to be engaged and was only able to talk for a short amount of time before he was exhausted.

Since social interaction became too difficult for Anderton, he turned to watching television for entertainment.

Watching soccer became a major pastime for Anderton. Soccer was always there for him after a rough week of chemotherapy. His passion for soccer influenced him to look at the sport as an escape from his difficult experiences, and watching soccer on TV allowed him to cheer week after week for his favorite team: England’s Chelsea FC.

“Soccer was always something to look forward to,” Anderton said. “I’d know that at the end of chemo, I had soccer to watch at home. It was something fun and enjoyable that helped me to get away from chemo and everything.”

Anderton valued his days at home between chemotherapy sessions, using them as days to recover and eat. He needed to make up for all the weight he lost the previous week and gain weight for the next chemotherapy session.

Even though Anderton was receiving cancer treatment, he was still determined to attend school as often as possible. After a couple days at home, Anderton would gain enough strength to begin catching up on his schoolwork.

“The teacher wouldn’t make me try to make up everything,” Anderton said. “But I would try to do it all anyways, because I felt like I should. I didn’t want to be an exception.”

Jenner Fox, a Paly junior and fellow soccer teammate, was an important friend to Anderton. Fox was always there to kick the soccer ball around on a Sunday afternoon, or to help John catch up on his schoolwork.

“We were, like, ‘baby’ friends,” Fox said. “We played on the same AYSO team in kindergarten and have played on the same team until this past summer.”

Although he had the support of friends and family, Anderton’s health became worse and worse.

Because his cancer had become so severe, he became eligible for an opportunity to participate in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, whose purpose is to enrich the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through its wish-granting work. When a Make-A-Wish Foundation associate approached him in July 2005, Anderton had just one wish: a chance to go to the 2006 World Cup that was less than one year away.

But he would only be able to go to the World Cup if he completely finished his chemotherapy.

In the eleven months after making the wish, Anderton successfully finished the long process, unaware that his wish would come true. When June rolled around, he was surprised that the Make-A-Wish foundation had in fact organized a trip for him.

“It was almost a last minute thing,” Mr. Anderton said. “The Make-A-Wish rep was obviously a magician. With the help of Yahoo and other sponsors, we were able to get tickets to a game. John was a happy guy.”

Anderton flew to Europe and traveled around the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, where he lived out his dream and witnessed the home team, Germany, take on Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals.  It turned out to be a thrilling match that was determined by penalty kicks, with Germany coming out on top.

“One of the things I wanted to do in my lifetime was go to a World Cup game,” Anderton said. “I was rooting for Argentina, but it was pretty awesome seeing Germany win, because it was in Germany and everyone was celebrating.”

After the once in a lifetime experience, however, it was back to the struggles of making a complete recovery.

The removal of Anderton’s chest tumor had taken a toll. After the surgery, his left lung would never fully function again.  To this day, Anderton has a 75 percent lung capacity due to a severed nerve to the diaphragm.

And soccer? Anderton had reservations about ever playing again.

His mother recalls dragging him to practice in eighth grade against his will after his chemotherapy. Anderton felt embarrassed and uncomfortable, but was able to go out on the field.

“At first I thought that my lung capacity wouldn’t let me play at all,” Anderton said. “But then it got better and better as I exercised more.”

Even though Anderton was physically able to go back to soccer after his chemotherapy, he did not feel ready to join his club team again so quickly. Getting back into soccer was gradual.

“It was a slow process,” club soccer team Stanford Landslide, coach Vilmar “Vava” Marques said. “I was first trying to help him work on the mental part of it because it is hard to come out of therapy and go into practice. I was careful not to push it, so I gave him time to become comfortable again.”

Because he was short of breath sometimes, Anderton took breaks from the field when he needed.

“He used to only be able to play for 10 or 15 minutes, then for a half,” Marques said. “[After a while] I couldn’t get him off the field, he wanted to play the whole time and he could.”

Teammate Daniel Kwasnick agrees.

“At first he had like no endurance; he could only play for a short amount of time,” Kwasnick said. “But he kept on playing and built up his endurance to the point he could play the entire game.”

Anderton’s year of chemotherapy had also taken away a year of possible growth at a crucial time for many boys. He now stands at 5’6”, significantly shorter than most of his teammates.

“He is small for his age, but I think he makes up for it in other ways,” Fox said. “He is really quick. He’s feisty.”

Although Anderton is small, he finds inspiration in professional soccer players who are also small. Shaun Wright-Philips, who currently plays for Manchester City and the England national team, is a role model in Anderton’s life.  He stands at 5’5” and encompasses the qualities that Anderton admires in a soccer player, like tenacity and a genuine understanding of the game.

“I like him [Wright-Philips] not only because he is a fantastic soccer player, but also because he is short like me, and we short people have to stick together,” Anderton said.

Defying even his own expectations, Anderton made the Paly varsity soccer team as a sophomore. Despite his doubts going into tryouts, he turned out to be a vital team member.

“I think he did not believe he was going to be on the [varsity] team,” Fox said. “But throughout the season he got a lot of playing time, and I think he got more confident.”

In reflection, Anderton has mixed feelings on his view of his experience. Although he did not necessarily believe it changed his outlook on life, it did make him realize how strong his love for soccer had become.

“Having cancer definitely helped me realize how much I loved soccer and getting to play around and get hurt,” Anderton said. “When I was sick, I really couldn’t do anything. I would be too tired and it would be unhealthy and dangerous. It just made me realize how much I took being able to play for granted.”

Anderton’s experience has not only had an impact on him, but also his family and friends as well, inspiring others to appreciate life as they have it.

“When you’re parents, you are always looking for things that will make your kid better,” Mr. Anderton said. “It’s just natural human nature. I came out of it feeling like I was just grateful for everything he was as opposed to worrying about what he was not. I was just grateful.”

Anderton has overcome severe illness and today remains cancer free, but he knows that his quarterly checkup at Stanford Hospital looms in the near future. Imagining the familiar white walls of the hospital and the sterile scent of the waiting room brings back memories of one of the hardest times in his life.

Although the remainder of the soccer game is not the only thing on his mind, he sprints back onto the field and takes his position, preparing to play the second half.   <<<