CINCINNATI — Nearly two weeks ago, Bengals cornerback Dax Hill took to the field at Paycor Stadium wearing bright blue and yellow cleats emblazoned with images raising awareness for people affected by osteosarcoma, a bone cancer largely affecting children.
Edgewood's Walker Smallwood is an osteosarcoma survivor and one of several people who either battled the disease themselves or knew someone who did who attended a practice with Hill ahead of the game.
He told us he was an athlete focused on playing basketball and baseball before chronic knee pain forced him to seek out medical care.
Smallwood said that, at just 15 years old, doctors found a lesion and told him to seek care at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
WATCH: We sat down with a Northern Kentucky cancer survivor to talk about the impact of Hill's message
"That was where I first heard osteosarcoma, and my first thought was, 'What the heck is that?' But, it's obviously cancer," he said.
Nine months of chemotherapy and multiple surgeries led to Smallwood overcoming the disease, but ended his athletic aspirations.
Instead, he turned to studying medicine and volunteering with an organization called MIB Agents, which helps survivors and those who are seeking end-of-life care, lobbies for laws to help those suffering pediatric cancer and funds research to find better treatments and potentially a cure.
Hill's cleat colors were those of the MIB Agents' website.
Founder Ann Graham told us that attention to the cause is key to helping find a cure. Osteosarcoma is a personal issue for Graham, who was diagnosed with the disease at 43.
"At 43 with three children, I was diagnosed with a pediatric cancer, and, age notwithstanding, I was treated at the pediatric cancer center at Sloan Kettering," she said.
Graham told us more work needs to be done to develop treatments specific to this type of cancer.
"We haven't had any new treatments in nearly 50 years. For me as a patient, I'm thinking, 'Who's working on this?'" she said.
In a video explaining why the issue was important to him released by the Bengals, Hill explained that his wife's family friend Sierra Zylstra died from osteosarcoma in February after years of battling the disease.
Zylstra had previously worked with MIB Agents, according to Hill.
Graham told us that people can help fund research for osteosarcoma research by visiting their donation page.
Smallwood told us his experience with the disease likely led him to where he is now, in his first year in medical school at the University of Kentucky.
