Philip D. Brown

Richmond County Daily Journal

When 11-year-old cancer survivor Joquan Smith takes the soccer field with his Ned’s Tax Service teammates to compete in the Rockingham recreational league, his thoughts are simple and focused.

“I just hope I don’t fall,” Joquan said on the sidelines before entering Saturday’s game in the second period as a defender. “I just want to clear the ball straight up the field when it comes my way - and winning. That’s my main goal. Or at least get the ball to my teammates so they can score, or even if it means running the ball all the way up there and scoring. If I can, or if I have to, I will.”

His mind is occupied with winning on the soccer field. However, since being diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in September of 2007, just being able to take the field is the greatest victory he will ever know on the field.

At that time, his family found out he had a one-in-five chance of surviving.

He has now been in remission for a year as of the middle of July, and is able to do normal things for an 11-year-old to do, like playing soccer.

His mother Martha Williams recalled the day the diagnosis was made, and marveled that she has the opportunity to watch him play soccer now.

“I almost passed out,” she said watching him from the sidelines of the Rockingham Middle School football field as Joquan played Saturday. “It was very hard on us emotionally and spiritually - those were the dark days.”

She said she ended up leaving her job to spend more time with Joquan and her oldest son, Ray Goodwin, while her husband Joe continued to work at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Pageland.

“It was also hard on us economically, because we kept falling in the middle,” she said.

Martha said they were responsible for 12 medications a day for Joquan, as well as constant trips back and forth to Chapel Hill for chemotherapy treatments.

Fortunately for them, Joe’s employers were willing to allow him to switch shifts as needed to be with his son throughout the ordeal, and charities like the Ronald McDonald House and the Make-A-WIsh Foundation were staunch supporters of the family.

Community members in churches, motorcycle clubs and other groups also rushed to their side.

However, the economics of the situation only scratched the surface of what was happening in their lives.

“The only thing we ever knew, at first, was people die when they get cancer,” Martha said. “We didn’t know anybody who’d survived it, but we did have family members who’d passed away because of it. The only thing we had was faith in God, and knowing that we needed to wait for Him to see what would happen.”

She said their family’s spiritual life helped them to band together and overcome the obstacles put before them in “the dark days.”

“I was sad and scared at first, but we weren’t going to give up,” she said. “It’s never over until it’s over, and with God on your side, He can work miracles and I feel like that’s what he did in our family’s lives.”

She said other parents may have given up hope, but she truly believes that with faith in God, modern medicine and family and community support — no situation is insurmountable

Joquan, himself is more comfortable discussing what he wants to do out on the soccer field than what he has to do to fight the cancer.

He referred to his health battle as “the other stuff.”

“All I can say about the other stuff is what don’t kill us makes us stronger,” he said. “Of course, everyday is like, on the edge. It takes some getting used to, but I’m used to it. It’s nothing, really.”

He said away from doctor’s visits, he’s “just like everybody else.”“I like to play video games, I like to hang out with friends, watch T.V. and stuff,” he said.

His mother said his lifetime aspirations have been altered by the numerous visits to the hospital.

“He wants to be a coroner, now,” she said. “Since he spent all that time up there in Chapel Hill, now he wants to study at UNC and become a medical examiner.”

She said his doctor describes him as “stoic,” and his father is also a reserved individual - a man of few words, if you will - but Joquan’s quiet strength is inspiring to her.

“He always maintained a great spirit,” she said. “He’s never given up, and he’s never really gotten down about it. He’s persevered, but he doesn’t really talk about it all that much. He says that doesn’t mean he doesn’t think about it, though.”

“He’s just done what the doctors said,” Joquan’s dad, Joe Williams, said from the sidelines Saturday. “He’s maintained good spirits, and never gotten really down about it.”

Ned’s Tax Service Coach Robbie Bowers congratulated Joquan on making some good plays after the whistle blew on the first half Saturday.

“Good job, you made a couple of big stops out there,” Bowers told him as he came to the bench.

“He’s got a great attitude and he loves to play,” Bowers said when Smith took the field again. “We haven’t really brought it up in front of all the guys on the team, but I’m sure some of them know. If it ever became an issue and we had to do that we would, but he’s done well and it hasn’t become an issue.”

The past year has seen a somewhat return to normalcy for the family.

Martha’s oldest son, Ray Goodwin, enlisted in the military, despite qualms that he couldn’t be there for Joquan.

“I told him to do what he had to do, and let Joquan do what he had to do,” Martha said. “He couldn’t put his life on hold forever.”

For Martha and Joe, they’ve come out of the experience that began in 2007 with a heightened sense of the importance of everyday interactions between loved ones.

For Joquan, he gets to be a kid again.

However, Martha acknowledged the family isn’t out of the woods, and they still need prayer and support if the unthinkable happens and the cancer rears its ugly head again.

“He is going to have a biopsy next week,” Martha said Saturday. “Since he’s only been in remission for a year, they want to test it every time they see something abnormal in the lymph nodes, and that’s bothering (Joquan) a little bit, but he’s tough and he hasn’t really talked about it.”

On the field, Joquan called out to teammates to get the ball in scoring range, congratulated others after they made a good play and tried to avoid dealing with “the other stuff” for the rest of the game.

His team preserved its unbeaten mark, with the game ending in a 2-2 tie.

Coach Bowers said Joquan is a big part of the team’s undefeated mark, through the strength of his spirit and his right leg.

Martha and Joe discussed the significance of Joquan’s battle with cancer with other parents, and cheered on their son together.

“Go, go, go,” Joe shouted out at one point when the ball came into Joquan’s zone.

It was clear this was a father who cheered his son on against more than the opponents on the field.