FREEDOM, Pa. -- Members of the Freedom High School 2008 graduating class said it was an emotional evening for them Thursday as a fellow student was able to join them as they walked across the stage.

John Challis, who is suffering from stage four liver and lung cancer, said he remembers what he told his assistant principal during his last trip to the hospital.

"I looked him in the eye and told him, 'I will graduate from high school,'" Challis said.

Challis proved to his classmates once again that anything is possible, as he did when he refused to give up on his baseball and football dreams.

"God gives him the strength. God has a mission for him, and he just keeps on ticking," Challis' father, Scott Challis, said.

"With the media attention, I believe this is God's plan. He believes he got this awful illness to help people," John's baseball coach, Steve Wetzel, said.

"Johnny, you said something I will take to my grave, and I hope I can live by: It's not how many breaths you take but what you do with each breath you do take," Freedom Area School District Superintendant Dr. Ronald Sofo said.

John stayed true to his positive message and always encouraged others, his peers said.

"Always follow your dreams and don't think you can't do anything because you can as long as you believe truly in your message," John Challis said.

He said he has a lot of work to do in the upcoming months. Wetzel and John are starting a foundation called the John Challis Courage For Life Foundation. They said their goal is to inspire the world though John's positive message.

---

Related Links:
More County News
Get RSS Headlines | Free Desktop Alert

---