Teen Runner Battling Cancer Finishes Relay Race With the Support of Her Teammates

It takes a village, and this New York teen battling cancer seems to have the best one. Yeva Klingbeil, a senior at Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, was carried to the finish line by her cross-country team when she couldn’t do it on her own.

“I was like, I can do that, even if I was going to be really slow, I got it, I got it," she told WRGB.

In 2019, Yeva was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of cancer that affects muscle tissue most common in kids and teens. She started chemotherapy treatments late that year and radiation treatments the following spring, but complications led to a 6-week stint in the ICU, and a lengthy battle for recovery, according to a fundraiser on PledgeIt.

“It’s been a long road getting back on my feet,” Yeva said.

But every year her school has a tradition where every senior competes in a 4x1 relay race, and Yeva decided she wasn’t going to let the opportunity go to waste.

And Yeva's teammates, who were seen on a viral video supporting her to the finish line and cheering when she finally made it, were with her every step of the way.

“Of course it brought tears to my eyes,” her mom, Gretchen Klingbeil, told WRGB. “To be able to see her do something normal like that again, it was awesome.”

Her school said on Twitter that her fight with cancer continues.

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