When Clermont Northeastern graduate Lucas Yeager received a cancer diagnosis in August 2024, doctors didn’t just tell him he had osteosarcoma.
They told a sports-obsessed 16-year-old boy that life as he knew it would never be the same.
The five-sport (football, soccer, basketball, track and baseball) athlete would undergo months of chemotherapy, major surgery to remove part of his leg and a long recovery process that would ultimately end his playing career in most of the sports he loved.
Through it all, Yeager never lost his positive mindset during one of the toughest physical and mental battles imaginable.
Now cancer-free and preparing to pursue a career in nursing, Yeager is one of The Enquirer’s 2026 Courage Award winners for the resilience, positivity and leadership he displayed.
A football injury that changed everything
What began as a sore knee during the buildup for football and soccer season in 2024 didn’t initially raise any alarms. Earlier in the year, Yeager had tweaked his knee on an awkward slide during Clermont Northeastern’s final baseball game. After a summer of rest, the discomfort seemed to fade.
During football practice on Aug. 9, 2024, Yeager’s life-altering injury was more embarrassing than painful when his knee gave out while running a post route. He popped up with a giant piece of grass stuck in his facemask.
“I was just really mad. That had never happened to me before,” he said. “My friends thought it was the funniest thing they’d ever seen.”
His parents assumed it was a normal sports injury, speculating that it was a torn meniscus. Something that could be repaired in time to get him back on the field later that season. An MRI revealed something far more serious.
“I was driving home from work and my husband called and he was just sobbing,” Lucas’ mother, Stephanie Yeager, said. “The doctor had called him and said he had bad news. It’s not a torn meniscus or another injury. We’re pretty certain Lucas has a bone tumor, which is osteosarcoma.
“Getting that news after thinking it was just going to be a small injury we were going to get fixed is devastating.”
Facing cancer with a smile
At just 16, Lucas was suddenly facing chemotherapy, surgery and the fact that he’d never play most sports again. Stephanie remembers the conversation that followed the diagnosis.
“We were sitting in the kitchen, and not even an hour after, we were told that he has this and he’s making jokes,” she said. “He said, ‘Let’s just chop it off and get me a blade. I’ll run in the Olympics.’ He never lost his positive outlook on life.”
That attitude never disappeared. There were difficult moments, but he refused to focus on what he was losing. He tried to comfort those close to him, like his twin sister, Emma, pointing out to her that he’ll now get a handicap sticker and front-row parking everywhere they go.
“At the time, I had no idea what that word even meant until the word cancer was brought up,” Lucas said. “I was never worried about myself. I was worried about the people around me and what was gonna happen to them.”
After a biopsy confirmed osteosarcoma, Lucas began an aggressive treatment plan that included 10 weeks of chemotherapy, surgery to remove his knee and six inches of his femur, then another 18 weeks of chemotherapy. Fortunately, scans showed the cancer had not spread beyond the tumor in his leg.
“That was one of the saving graces,” Stephanie said.
Even during months of treatment, Lucas remained focused on finding ways to move forward.
“I realized there were other ways for me to be involved in the things I love to do,” he said.
How Lucas Yeager found a new role in athletics
Sports had defined so much of Yeager’s life, so losing them could have been devastating. He found a new purpose instead with the help of a camera. He stayed connected to Clermont Northeastern athletics by attending practices and games and eventually became a photographer and videographer for the teams he once played for.
“I just started shooting pictures and videos of everything that I could,” he said.
The Clermont Northeastern community rallied around him every step of the way from t-shirts, sweatshirts, arm bands for the soccer team that said, “Lucas Strong” and more.
“The amount of support from our community and our school was unbelievable,” Stephanie said.
One of the most meaningful tributes came from the baseball program. Yeager’s jersey number was retired, ensuring his impact on the program would be remembered long after graduation.
“I always wanted my number retired,” Lucas laughed. “It’s not the way I wanted it to be done, but it’s up there.”
Clermont Northeastern baseball coach Chad Heckler said Yeager’s influence extended far beyond the field, and that a retired jersey represents more than a baseball career.
“He has an infectious personality and a tremendous work ethic. In typical Lucas fashion, he never flinched. He went through some incredibly tough times, and he knocked it out of the park,” Heckler said. “His jersey will serve as a constant reminder of perseverance to us all and hopefully remind him of how much we all care about him and his family.”
A new appreciation for life
In April 2025, after months of treatment, Yeager rang the bell signifying the end of chemotherapy.
“That was a surreal experience,” Lucas said. “It was a weight off my chest that had been sitting there for months.”
Stephanie added: “If you know anybody with cancer or you love somebody with cancer or you go through the cancer journey, you understand that the ringing of the bell, there’s no better sound in the world than that.”
Although he could no longer return to his normal sports-filled calendar, Yeager found a new passion in golf. What had once been an occasional activity with friends became a competitive outlet.
His first high school golf match on July 30, 2025, at Friendly Meadows brought a new kind of weight on his chest.
“That sport made me more nervous than anything I had ever done in high school,” he said. “I felt like I did not belong sitting on that tee box with the other golfers.”
On his first shot, he found the fairway.
“It was actually good. I didn’t slice that one. I hit it straight.”
Today, Yeager plans to attending nursing school, inspired by the nurses and medical professionals who helped him throughout his treatment.
“Dealing with the nurses and the CRNAs that I got to deal with almost daily was really what sealed the deal that I wanted to do that and help people,” he said.
As one of The Enquirer’s Courage Award winners, Yeager hopes his story can inspire others facing their own battles.
“What you’re going through now, it does not compare to the relief and joy you feel of being on the other side of it. You have your whole life ahead of you and this is just an obstacle that you need to get through.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: After cancer battle, CNE’s Lucas Yeager found strength beyond sports
Reporting by Shelby Dermer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Shelby Dermer, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
