In today’s episode of This Hits Different, Shelby Cassesse tells the story of South Fayette baseball players Ethan Keener and Tyler Schepis, who have formed a bond as they battle serious health issues.
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South Fayette sophomore Ethan Keener had just celebrated Christmas in 2020. But, soon after, started experiencing random bleeding from his ears and extremely sensitive gums. The diagnosis was severe aplastic anemia.
“I had never even heard of it,” Ethan says. “I had no idea what it was before. Like, obviously, I knew what leukemia was and in a sense, it's somewhat like leukemia."
It's a rare and serious condition that causes the body to stop producing enough blood cells. A common treatment is a bone marrow transplant.
Ethan found a match and underwent his bone marrow transplant over the summer. He says it was a pretty lonely process, but the community came through big time.
“In the hospital, I mean, you're pretty lonely,” he says. “All you see is the nurses and your parents. And every day I would wake up and I'd have texts from everybody. I would have cards coming into the hospital. And I don't think people realize how much it helps.”
His baseball team was among his support system, including longtime teammate Tyler Schepis.
“It's really scary to think that someone that you're really close to has to go through this and really has to suffer through it,” Tyler says.
But, as Ethan was awaiting his transplant, Tyler found lumps in his neck, and months later received his own devastating news. He was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkins Lymphoma.
“I was obviously shocked and it completely turn my whole life upside down,” Tyler says.
After months of helping Ethan through a tough time, the roles were suddenly reversed.
“Whenever this came up with me, he instantly reached out and told me, ‘there's always going to be light at the end of the tunnel and keep a positive attitude,’” Tyler says. “And that me and him, we're both going to get through together.”
After months of the two boys supporting each other over the phone, their families arranged a 15-minute chat on Ethan's front porch one night. An anxious Tyler would begin chemo the next day.
“I think he was just telling me mostly what to expect,” Tyler says. “And one thing he said that stuck with me is he said, ‘as bad as we have it there's always kids that have it a lot worse than us.’”
Ethan says that mindset has been key for both of them.
“If you don't have that perspective, it will be so hard to get through it,” he says. “I just thought about it and you can't really ask like, ‘why me?’ Or ‘why did this happen to me?’ Because if you think about it that way, it's just going to be so much hard to get through.”
Their baseball coach Kenny Morgan has helped organize different events for Tyler an Ethan, a story he says has captivated their community with both sorrow and inspiration.
“I mean, you talk about some strong kids and not just from a health standpoint to battle through this,” he says. “They're both going to come out and beat this thing, and they come with this perspective that is really astonishing for kids their age.”
Hard to imagine teammates and close friends can be even tighter, but that's the case for Ethan and Tyler, now battling to get healthy together.
“Whenever you have someone that really knows what you're going through, you just have that extra level of connection,” Tyler says.
“It just really gave me some motivations,” Ethan says. “Like just keep going because you always question, ‘do I really want to keep doing this?’ And it just gives you the motivation to keep going.”