Oskar Lindblom.Photo: Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty
A 23-year-old player for the Philadelphia Flyers will miss the season after being diagnosed with a rare cancer that will require lifelong monitoring after intense chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Oskar Lindblom, a forward for the Flyers, waswith his teammates last weekwhen he was diagnosed withEwing’s sarcoma, a type of cancer that occurs in bones or in the soft tissue around the bones, according to Mayo Clinic.
There is only an average of 1,000 new cases of Ewing’s sarcoma reported a year in the United States. Symptoms of the cancertypically include pain around the site of the tumor(including swelling and redness), weight loss, fatigue or even paralysis.
While treatment for the disease has improved over the years, the Mayo Clinic says the cancer can spread to other areas of the body such as bone marrow, other bones, and the lungs. Even after chemotherapy and radiation, the cancer can return.
On Tuesday, Lindblom visited the team for the first time since receiving the devastating news.
Fans hold signs in support of Philadelphia Flyers’ Oskar Lindblom.
“It was awesome to see Oskar this morning,” his Flyers teammate, Carter Hart, said of the visit, according to thePhiladelphia Inquirer. “It was good to see him and the positive attitude that he had. It kind of uplifted our group.”
“[Tuesday] morning was really the first time we spent time with him since we heard what was really going on,” Flyers player Claude Giroux added. “His attitude is unbelievable … We wanted to get this win for him. Every win for the rest of the season is going to be for him.”
Flyers coach Alain Vigneault called Lindblom “a real good person and a real strong person.”
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“I’ve been texting back with Oskar for the last few days,” he toldNHL.com. “We knew he was coming in. Felt it was important for him, especially important for his teammates to see him. He’s got a tremendous amount of support from his family but from his extended family, the Flyers players and their wives, and their coaches and their wives, the great fans we have here in Philly and across the state that are going to support him.”
“Hockey is a real strong and real good community,” he continued. “He is going to be around, and he’s going to be back soon as he possibly can.”
source: people.com
