COURAGE AWARD

Camryn Colahan, a senior at Vermilion High School in Vermilion, Ohio, overcame major medical obstacles to return to playing competitive sports. As a freshman, Colahan had lettered in varsity volleyball, basketball and track. In 2018, as a sophomore, she was beginning her fourth year on a national level Junior Olympic Volleyball team when Colahan discovered a lump on her inner thigh. The lump started to cause her some discomfort. Immediately following her sectional championship volleyball match, she was taken to Cleveland Clinic Children’s for testing, including an MRI and biopsy. Colahan, who was 15 years old at the time, was diagnosed with Stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of soft-tissue cancer. In the days following her diagnosis, the Colahan family met with doctors at Cleveland Clinic Children’s, who put together a treatment plan that included intensive chemotherapy for 10 months and intensive proton beam radiation therapy. While she was still able to attend school during treatment, she was not able to participate in any sports because of fatigue and the time commitment for chemotherapy. By mid-March of 2019, Colahan started to experience second and third-degree burns from the radiation. During the last few weeks of treatment, she needed the assistance of a wheelchair to aide with movement due to her wounds.

She began physical therapy in November 2019 to strengthen her coordination and footwork due to side effects from radiation, including significant skin and muscle damage. “It was very frustrating during the season because I was not even close to being as good as I was the season before,” says Colahan. “I still managed to go to practice every day and work my hardest to get back. Running was a challenge because of how weak my body had become. To put it in perspective, I only played 30 seconds of our first game and I was exhausted.”

In January 2021, Colahan’s family shared she had completed her maintenance treatment and her scans continue to show no evidence of disease. Colahan completed nearly two years of chemotherapy.

“As I’ve gone through all of this, I have realized what life is about. It’s not about how many followers you have on Instagram, it’s all about how you think of things and knowing that you shouldn’t take anything for granted. Anything can be taken from you at any point. Enjoy every moment you have, and surround yourself with people that you love and make you happy.”

Colahan lives with Brett and Aimee, her parents, and her three siblings. She is on the varsity volleyball and basketball teams. Colahan recently committed to play on the women’s volleyball team at Wittenberg University and plans to study psychology. Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine Courage Award is given to an athlete who has displayed courage beyond the boundaries of the playing field to inspire those around them.