Chase McDaniel had big plans April 20. He and his date had a prom to attend.
Nothing was going to stop him from going _ not even a Stage 3 liver cancer diagnosis.
McDaniel, a 16-year-old linebacker at Carrollton High School, told Channel 2 Action News that he received the terrible news the same day as the prom, but he wasn't going to let his date down.
"She was so excited about it," McDaniel said. "(She was) talking about it, everything we were gonna do, places we were gonna go and pictures we were gonna take."
The diagnosis came weeks after he was hospitalized with sharp pain in his side, the news station reported.
His mother, Kiki McDaniel, said her entire world changed when doctors gave them the news. However, she said her son insisted on showing his date a good time.
"He was just determined. The prom thing _ it was not a question," she told the news station. "He asked it right away: 'Can I go?' "
Now that the big night is over, his focus has shifted to getting better. He's at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, undergoing several rounds of chemotherapy over his 10-day hospital stay.
"We trust God that he is able, and so if (Chase) can believe, I can believe," his father, Tracy McDaniel, told the news station.
By the fall, Chase McDaniel hopes he's trading his hospital room for a locker room, where he expects to spend plenty of time as an anticipated starter on the football team. He even keeps his jerseys in his hospital room, hanging up as a reminder of what he's working toward.
"It means a lot to me, especially this season," he said. "But I'm just happy I'm gonna be back out there."
The only other thing on his mind aside from having faith, getting better and preparing to suit up in the fall is turning 17; his mother said the doctors will allow him to have a cake and candles between treatments.
