GAMECOCKBOY
09-02-2006, 12:08 AM
:mellow: August 24, 2006
After beating cancer, life's a treat for Lucas
Scott Hood
GamecockCentral.com Staff Writer
Talk about it in The Insiders Forum
When you've cheated death, everything else is a breeze.
Cody Lucas beat the odds, and we're not talking Vegas either.
When you see Lucas today in a football uniform, he appears to be a strapping, healthy young man of 22 years.
Paul Collins
Cody Lucas is now a 5-foot-11, 248-pound fullback.
But that wasn't always the case for the 5-foot-11, 248-pound Lucas, who grew up in York, S.C.
When he was barely kindergarten age – five years old to be exact – Lucas was diagnosed with eight potentially fatal cancerous tumors in his kidneys.
"I was riding a bicycle and the handlebars jabbed into my side," Lucas said. "It sort of aggravated the cancer. They took me to the doctor because I was hurting and crying so bad. I remember like it was yesterday. They took me to the hospital and they found the cancer."
Maybe it was good thing that Lucas was so young at the time that he probably didn't understand the possible consequences of the disease.
"I was so young, I only remember going through it," Lucas said. "My mom was always there. She says I was wide open the whole time. My hair started falling out. My friends and my brother would pull my hair out and laugh and throw it everywhere."
Doctors gave him little chance to survive the ordeal.
"They really didn't think I was going to make it," Lucas said. "I was tiny being that young. They told my mother it didn't look good at first. A couple of hospitals really weren't sure what to do."
But after 65 consecutive weeks of chemotherapy, two surgeries, and a lengthy stay at Columbia's Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital, the cancer went into remission and was finally eradicated.
"After about a year-and-a-half or so they pronounced me cured," said Lucas, who still wears the scars from the arduous ordeal on his chest and back.
At that time, without the benefit of the modern technology employed today, the chemotherapy was administered into the body using a large butterfly needle. Was it painful? You bet.
"I knew what was going on and I hated it as far as all the (chemotherapy) going through my body," Lucas said. "But at that age you don't remember anything but the good stuff. You remember the bad stuff but the good stuff sticks out. It was hell. It was rough. The medicine would make me real hot so I couldn't go out in the sun and the outside air. I remember coming home for the first time after my stay in the hospital, getting outside and throwing up for a week."
During his hospital stay, several Gamecock football players, including Harold Green, spent time with Lucas and gave him gifts during a day-long visit to the hospital.
For a young football fan like Lucas, it was the thrill of a lifetime. Lucas' mother had purchased him a Clemson water jug a few days earlier but it was promptly removed from the room before the players visited.
"I told her to get that thing out of the room," said Lucas, who added that his grandfather was a Clemson fan.
Not many people are familiar with Lucas' story of survival because, frankly, he doesn't talk about it much anymore. He's hardly mentioned it to Steve Spurrier.
"I don't talk about it that much," Lucas said. "I like to give back to the kids the way they did it for me. But I haven't really spoken about it with him in-depth. At the pool (party last week) was actually the first time I've really mentioned anything about it to him."
By the time he was a senior at York High School, Lucas had developed into an outstanding football player. He led York in tackles for two straight years - and was the region Player of the Year in 2001. His outstanding play led to an official visit to USC that Fall.
Lucas played in the 2001 Shrine Bowl alongside Ricardo Hurley and other future Gamecock players before heading to Orangeburg, where started at middle linebacker for the South Carolina State Bulldogs as a freshman.
Lucas was recruited by a few major Division I programs but they all wanted him to play somewhere other than his favorite position of linebacker.
S.C. State offered him the opportunity to play linebacker, so off to Orangeburg he went.
"I could have (played at a major school) coming out of high school, but I did not because everyone wanted me to play safety and I wanted to play linebacker," Lucas said.
Lucas suffered a knee injury in his sophomore season for the Bulldogs and underwent surgery. Lucas eventually played at S.C. State for three seasons as a scholarship player.
Searching for a new challenge, Lucas transferred to USC following the 2004 season. He sat out the 2005 season before joining the football team in time for spring practice earlier this year.
"I just decided to transfer because I wanted to play at a bigger school," Lucas said. "It is like a dream come true to be out here playing football. I was a fan. But it's different when you're playing. But I'm out here on the same field that guys who came to see me thinking I was going to die played on. When you sit back and think about it, it's wild."
Lucas introduced himself to the USC fans when he intercepted a Blake Mitchell pass in April's Garnet & Black game.
He came to Columbia with the desire of earning a spot on the roster as a linebacker. But Steve Spurrier informed him over the summer that he wanted Lucas to move to fullback, and that's where he's played throughout fall camp.
"Coach Spurrier wanted me to play fullback," Lucas said. "Right now I would like to get back over there on defense and hit somebody, but he (Spurrier) wanted me to play fullback. It does not matter (where I play). I just want to play anywhere to help the team. I want to make an impact and contribute to winning. Right now I'm learning all my plays."
With Clark Gaston slowed by injuries, Lucas is now battling Lanard Stafford for the starting job. When Stafford was hurt, Lucas took reps with the first team offense in practice.
Lucas has gained nearly 50 pounds since he matriculated at USC in 2004.
"I have been improving on getting in-shape the whole time (I've been at USC)," Lucas said. "I'm about there. I need to improve my stamina because the no-huddle offense in the SEC is different from playing defense in the MEAC. The pace is a lot faster."
After all that he's been through, you know Lucas will conquer that too.
After beating cancer, life's a treat for Lucas
Scott Hood
GamecockCentral.com Staff Writer
Talk about it in The Insiders Forum
When you've cheated death, everything else is a breeze.
Cody Lucas beat the odds, and we're not talking Vegas either.
When you see Lucas today in a football uniform, he appears to be a strapping, healthy young man of 22 years.
Paul Collins
Cody Lucas is now a 5-foot-11, 248-pound fullback.
But that wasn't always the case for the 5-foot-11, 248-pound Lucas, who grew up in York, S.C.
When he was barely kindergarten age – five years old to be exact – Lucas was diagnosed with eight potentially fatal cancerous tumors in his kidneys.
"I was riding a bicycle and the handlebars jabbed into my side," Lucas said. "It sort of aggravated the cancer. They took me to the doctor because I was hurting and crying so bad. I remember like it was yesterday. They took me to the hospital and they found the cancer."
Maybe it was good thing that Lucas was so young at the time that he probably didn't understand the possible consequences of the disease.
"I was so young, I only remember going through it," Lucas said. "My mom was always there. She says I was wide open the whole time. My hair started falling out. My friends and my brother would pull my hair out and laugh and throw it everywhere."
Doctors gave him little chance to survive the ordeal.
"They really didn't think I was going to make it," Lucas said. "I was tiny being that young. They told my mother it didn't look good at first. A couple of hospitals really weren't sure what to do."
But after 65 consecutive weeks of chemotherapy, two surgeries, and a lengthy stay at Columbia's Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital, the cancer went into remission and was finally eradicated.
"After about a year-and-a-half or so they pronounced me cured," said Lucas, who still wears the scars from the arduous ordeal on his chest and back.
At that time, without the benefit of the modern technology employed today, the chemotherapy was administered into the body using a large butterfly needle. Was it painful? You bet.
"I knew what was going on and I hated it as far as all the (chemotherapy) going through my body," Lucas said. "But at that age you don't remember anything but the good stuff. You remember the bad stuff but the good stuff sticks out. It was hell. It was rough. The medicine would make me real hot so I couldn't go out in the sun and the outside air. I remember coming home for the first time after my stay in the hospital, getting outside and throwing up for a week."
During his hospital stay, several Gamecock football players, including Harold Green, spent time with Lucas and gave him gifts during a day-long visit to the hospital.
For a young football fan like Lucas, it was the thrill of a lifetime. Lucas' mother had purchased him a Clemson water jug a few days earlier but it was promptly removed from the room before the players visited.
"I told her to get that thing out of the room," said Lucas, who added that his grandfather was a Clemson fan.
Not many people are familiar with Lucas' story of survival because, frankly, he doesn't talk about it much anymore. He's hardly mentioned it to Steve Spurrier.
"I don't talk about it that much," Lucas said. "I like to give back to the kids the way they did it for me. But I haven't really spoken about it with him in-depth. At the pool (party last week) was actually the first time I've really mentioned anything about it to him."
By the time he was a senior at York High School, Lucas had developed into an outstanding football player. He led York in tackles for two straight years - and was the region Player of the Year in 2001. His outstanding play led to an official visit to USC that Fall.
Lucas played in the 2001 Shrine Bowl alongside Ricardo Hurley and other future Gamecock players before heading to Orangeburg, where started at middle linebacker for the South Carolina State Bulldogs as a freshman.
Lucas was recruited by a few major Division I programs but they all wanted him to play somewhere other than his favorite position of linebacker.
S.C. State offered him the opportunity to play linebacker, so off to Orangeburg he went.
"I could have (played at a major school) coming out of high school, but I did not because everyone wanted me to play safety and I wanted to play linebacker," Lucas said.
Lucas suffered a knee injury in his sophomore season for the Bulldogs and underwent surgery. Lucas eventually played at S.C. State for three seasons as a scholarship player.
Searching for a new challenge, Lucas transferred to USC following the 2004 season. He sat out the 2005 season before joining the football team in time for spring practice earlier this year.
"I just decided to transfer because I wanted to play at a bigger school," Lucas said. "It is like a dream come true to be out here playing football. I was a fan. But it's different when you're playing. But I'm out here on the same field that guys who came to see me thinking I was going to die played on. When you sit back and think about it, it's wild."
Lucas introduced himself to the USC fans when he intercepted a Blake Mitchell pass in April's Garnet & Black game.
He came to Columbia with the desire of earning a spot on the roster as a linebacker. But Steve Spurrier informed him over the summer that he wanted Lucas to move to fullback, and that's where he's played throughout fall camp.
"Coach Spurrier wanted me to play fullback," Lucas said. "Right now I would like to get back over there on defense and hit somebody, but he (Spurrier) wanted me to play fullback. It does not matter (where I play). I just want to play anywhere to help the team. I want to make an impact and contribute to winning. Right now I'm learning all my plays."
With Clark Gaston slowed by injuries, Lucas is now battling Lanard Stafford for the starting job. When Stafford was hurt, Lucas took reps with the first team offense in practice.
Lucas has gained nearly 50 pounds since he matriculated at USC in 2004.
"I have been improving on getting in-shape the whole time (I've been at USC)," Lucas said. "I'm about there. I need to improve my stamina because the no-huddle offense in the SEC is different from playing defense in the MEAC. The pace is a lot faster."
After all that he's been through, you know Lucas will conquer that too.