It wasn’t until this school year that Brody Martin finally started to experience a more normal high school life.

Now a junior, Martin has been getting acclimated at Dighton High School after being unable to attend school in person for virtually all of his freshman and sophomore years. 

Martin was diagnosed with leukemia as an eighth-grader, leading to a difficult two-and-a-half-year battle filled with constant trips to Kansas City for chemotherapy treatment. 

“He got really, really sick and we thought we were going to lose him a couple times,” said Brody’s mother, Ashley Powell. “It was really, really bad. 

“But the kid just kept going.”

Martin was finally declared cancer-free last July, a week after his 16th birthday.

Since then he’s been trying to make up for lost high school time. 

“It was pretty difficult at the beginning, getting back into school and getting my work done,” said Martin, the Capitol Federal® True Blue® Student of the Week. “But with the teachers I had, they made it really easy to move on with my schoolwork and everything.”

“It’s a mixture of feeling super thankful and super excited, but also scared,” Powell said of seeing her son return to school full-time. “He’s missed out on a lot. He’s kind of reintroducing himself.”

Martin said he began experiencing sudden pain during the basketball season of his eighth-grade year.

“My back was hurting,” Martin said. “I barely could walk. We went to the doctors and I was diagnosed. We went to the hospital and stayed there for a long time. I started trying to go to school but it was very difficult to stay the whole day.”

For the first year after he was diagnosed, Martin and his mother traveled six hours to Kansas City every week for his treatment. He did most of his schooling online. 

“There were a lot of hospital admissions,” Powell said. “He got life-flighted out of Garden City one time. He had a lot of bumps in the road. He had allergic reactions to a lot of the chemos so they had to switch the game plan a couple times.”

Powell said her son remained mostly stoic throughout his treatment. 

“He’s not a huge talker,” Powell said. “He’s pretty shy and he’s definitely not an emotional talker. But he does have such an awesome personality.

“When they would start the chemo, he wouldn’t talk to the nurses and doctors. He would answer their questions, but he wasn’t really giving his personality or saying much, to the point they said, ‘He should probably see a therapist. We don’t know if he’s dealing with this well.’ He just internalized everything that he was feeling.”

“I didn’t really show my emotions because I didn’t want to worry my mom,” Martin acknowledged. “I kind of just suppressed all of it.”

After the first year, Martin’s trips to Kansas City for treatment were reduced to once every two weeks and then eventually once every 28 days over the last six months of treatment until he became cancer-free. 

“It was a big moment for me,” Martin said. “I finally felt relief after worrying all the time.”

“It was a lot of tears,” Powell said. “He was two-and-a-half years in so he knew those nurses and doctors like family. All of his nurses and doctors were lined up and had a little tunnel for him to go through before he rang the bell. Everybody in there – his family and all the doctors and nurses – were cheering for him. I’m so proud of him.”

Powell said she was blown away by her son’s resolve throughout the whole process. 

“I think I’m the only one that got to hear him say, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore,’ but he only said that one time,” she said. “My mom-heart was shattering the whole way – it still does, I think, every single day – but his resilience and his grit is insane.”

After returning to school, Martin was able to fulfill one of his biggest goals – playing basketball for the Hornets .

“First few weeks of practice were really difficult from not doing anything for a couple of years,” Martin said. “But I had my friends and my coaches helping me outside of practice to get better.

“Going back to basketball was a really big thing for me. I’ve played basketball my whole life. Having to miss out on it for three years was a pretty sad thing. Just for me to be able to be back with my friends and play the game I love has been big.”

Dighton boys basketball coach Tyler Lingg said Martin’s return has been inspiring. 

“Brody’s journey back to the basketball court is a powerful testament to his character,” Lingg said. “After everything he’s endured, his drive to suit up and compete is an inspiration not just to his teammates, but to our entire school community. 

“Brody brings the right attitude every day and is always striving to get better and do what it takes to help the team be successful.”

On the court, Martin fights through physical limitations that were caused by chemotherapy. 

“The school part came pretty easy,” Powell said. “The basketball part, we didn’t realize how much chemo damaged him – his feet specifically”

Powell said an ill effect from one of the chemotherapy drugs has tightened Martin’s Achilles tendons, forcing him to walk on his tiptoes. 

“All of his doctors and everything really wanted him to be able to go out for basketball,” Powell said. “He’s been out of the game for so many years and that’s really where his identity at 13 was: a basketball player. 

“He probably jumped back into basketball too quickly, physically, but he still goes to every practice and he does all that he can. On his worst day of a game or practice, he’ll come home with a smile on his face because he’s thankful to be back in the game and a part of the team.”

Martin and Powell said the Dighton community has always been in their family’s corner. After Martin was diagnosed, his classmates organized a t-shirt fundraiser at one of the basketball games. 

“Our school colors happen to be orange and black, and orange is the color for pediatric cancer,” Powell said. “They had made some shirts that said ‘I Wear Orange for Brody,’ and they had his basketball number on them. It was really awesome that his class got involved. 

“The churches around town did some things too. The whole community really helped out and stepped up and sent prayers and cards and encouragement.”

Powell acknowledged that while her son is in a great spot after the long battle with leukemia, there’s a new set of challenges. For instance, Martin, who has a weakened immune system, was held out of school this week while battling a virus. 

“The weirdest thing I’ve found out through all of this is praying so hard for him to be cancer free and then thinking it ends then,” Powell said. “You just think, ‘Oh, my gosh I’ll be able to breathe then.'

“I didn’t realize that then comes a new set of (challenges). You got to figure out what your new norm is. I’m super thankful to be where we are right now, but there are still scares.”

While reflecting on her son’s journey on Wednesday, which was World Cancer Day, Powell said the experience has brought him closer to his faith. 

“The most important thing is his faith in God grew in Brody. Not because Mom is telling him about God, it was Brody finding out who God is for Brody, and what God pulled him out of and got him through.

“I’m so proud of my boy.”