Pope High School football player Matt Hobby died Tuesday at his home following a long, courageous fight with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of juvenile cancer.
Over the past 20 months, Hobby's parents had sought aggressive treatments for Matt, including two separate forms of bone marrow transplants.
They spent much of those two years at hospitals in Seattle and in New York, all the while holding fast to the mantra "stand tough," which had become Matt's calling card.
For a while last fall, it looked as if Matt, 18, had beaten this form of cancer that seldom loses. He had gotten a couple of all's-clear reports, always with a caveat that only time would tell for sure.
Matt rejoined the football team but never got a chance to play again. One week he was on the sidelines dressed in pads and his helmet, the next week he was back in street clothes.
Matt had started to complain of some pains again, and further tests revealed the worst.
But it wasn't until about six weeks ago that the Hobbys put all their attention toward making Matt comfortable.
Friends organized a senior prom for Matt at his home a couple of weeks ago. By then the teenager was too weak to enjoy much of the evening, but his mother, Pam Hobby, said it was special nonetheless.
? 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 6/1/2006.
Over the past 20 months, Hobby's parents had sought aggressive treatments for Matt, including two separate forms of bone marrow transplants.
They spent much of those two years at hospitals in Seattle and in New York, all the while holding fast to the mantra "stand tough," which had become Matt's calling card.
For a while last fall, it looked as if Matt, 18, had beaten this form of cancer that seldom loses. He had gotten a couple of all's-clear reports, always with a caveat that only time would tell for sure.
Matt rejoined the football team but never got a chance to play again. One week he was on the sidelines dressed in pads and his helmet, the next week he was back in street clothes.
Matt had started to complain of some pains again, and further tests revealed the worst.
But it wasn't until about six weeks ago that the Hobbys put all their attention toward making Matt comfortable.
Friends organized a senior prom for Matt at his home a couple of weeks ago. By then the teenager was too weak to enjoy much of the evening, but his mother, Pam Hobby, said it was special nonetheless.
? 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 6/1/2006.
Pope High School football player Matt Hobby died Tuesday at his home following a long, courageous fight with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of juvenile cancer.
Over the past 20 months, Hobby's parents had sought aggressive treatments for Matt, including two separate forms of bone marrow transplants.
They spent much of those two years at hospitals in Seattle and in New York, all the while holding fast to the mantra "stand tough," which had become Matt's calling card.
For a while last fall, it looked as if Matt, 18, had beaten this form of cancer that seldom loses. He had gotten a couple of all's-clear reports, always with a caveat that only time would tell for sure.
Matt rejoined the football team but never got a chance to play again. One week he was on the sidelines dressed in pads and his helmet, the next week he was back in street clothes.
Matt had started to complain of some pains again, and further tests revealed the worst.
But it wasn't until about six weeks ago that the Hobbys put all their attention toward making Matt comfortable.
Friends organized a senior prom for Matt at his home a couple of weeks ago. By then the teenager was too weak to enjoy much of the evening, but his mother, Pam Hobby, said it was special nonetheless.
? 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 6/1/2006.
Over the past 20 months, Hobby's parents had sought aggressive treatments for Matt, including two separate forms of bone marrow transplants.
They spent much of those two years at hospitals in Seattle and in New York, all the while holding fast to the mantra "stand tough," which had become Matt's calling card.
For a while last fall, it looked as if Matt, 18, had beaten this form of cancer that seldom loses. He had gotten a couple of all's-clear reports, always with a caveat that only time would tell for sure.
Matt rejoined the football team but never got a chance to play again. One week he was on the sidelines dressed in pads and his helmet, the next week he was back in street clothes.
Matt had started to complain of some pains again, and further tests revealed the worst.
But it wasn't until about six weeks ago that the Hobbys put all their attention toward making Matt comfortable.
Friends organized a senior prom for Matt at his home a couple of weeks ago. By then the teenager was too weak to enjoy much of the evening, but his mother, Pam Hobby, said it was special nonetheless.
? 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 6/1/2006.
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