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AT fi fiRsT i THoug TH THougHT oug my LuNg CAPACiTy wouLDN’T LET mE PLAy AT ALL.
Anderton valued his days at home between chemotherapy sessions, using them as days to recover and eat. He needed to make up for all the weight he lost the previous week and gain weight for the next chemotherapy session. Even though Anderton was receiving cancer treatment, he was still determined to attend school as often as possible. After a couple days at home, Anderton would gain enough strength to begin catching up on his schoolwork. “The teacher wouldn’t make me try to make up everything,” Anderton said. “But I would try to do it all anyways, because I felt like I should. I didn’t want to be an exception.” Jenner Fox, a Paly junior and fellow soccer teammate, was an important friend to Anderton. Fox was always there to kick the soccer ball around on a Sunday afternoon, or to help John catch up on his schoolwork. “We were, like, ‘baby’ friends,” Fox said. “We played on the same AYSO team in kindergarten and have played on the same team until this past summer.” Although he had the support of friends and family, Anderton’s health became worse and worse. Because his cancer had become so severe, he became eligible for an opportunity to participate in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, whose purpose is to enrich the lives of children with life-threatening JoHN ANDERT ANDERTo ANDERToN oN N medical conditions through its wish-granting work. When a Make-A-Wish Foundation associate approached him in July 2005, Anderton had just one wish: a chance to go to the 2006 World Cup that was less than one year away. But he would only be able to go to the World Cup if he completely finished his chemotherapy. In the eleven months after making the wish, Anderton successfully finished the long process, unaware that his wish would come true. When June rolled around, he was surprised that the MakeA-Wish foundation had in fact organized a trip for him. “It was almost a last minute thing,” Mr. Anderton said. “The Make-A-Wish rep was obviously a magician. With the help of Yahoo and other sponsors, we were able to get tickets to a game. John was a happy guy.” Anderton flew to Europe and traveled around the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, where he lived out his dream and witnessed the home team, Germany, take on Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals. It turned out to be a thrilling match that was determined by penalty kicks, with Germany coming out on top. “One of the things I wanted to do in my lifetime was go to a World Cup game,” Anderton said. “I was rooting for Argentina, but it was pretty awesome seeing Germany win, because it was in Germany and everyone was celebrating.” After the once in a lifetime experience, however, it was back to the struggles of making a complete recovery. The removal of Anderton’s chest tumor had taken a toll. After the surgery, his left lung would never fully function again. To this day, Anderton has a 75 percent lung capacity due to a severed nerve to the diaphragm. And soccer? Anderton had reservations about ever playing again. His mother recalls dragging him to practice in eighth grade against his will after his chemotherapy. Anderton felt embarrassed and uncomfortable, In 2006, Anderton went to the but was able to go out on the field. world Cup in germany through “At first I thought that my lung capacity wouldn’t let me play at all,” Anderthe Make-A-wish foundation. ton said. “But then it got better and better as I exercised more.” Even though Anderton was physically able to go back to soccer after his chemotherapy, he did not feel ready to join his club team again so quickly. “It was a slow process,” club soccer team Stanford Landslide, coach Vilmar “Vava” Marques said. “I was first trying to help him work on the mental part of it because it is hard to come out of therapy and go into practice. I was careful not to push it, so I gave him time to become comfortable again.” Because he was short of breath sometimes, Anderton took breaks from the field when he needed. “He used to only be able to play for 10 or 15 minutes, then for a half,” Marques said. “[After a while] I couldn’t get him off the field, he wanted to play the whole time and he could.” Teammate Daniel Kwasnick agrees. “At first he had like no endurance; he could only play for a short amount of time,” Kwasnick said. “But he kept on playing and built up his endurance to the point he could play the entire game.” Anderton’s year of chemotherapy had also taken away a year of possible growth at a crucial time for many boys.
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