In 2009, Mitch Stone was 11 when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He went through very aggressive treatments at Cincinnati Children's. He needed radiation followed by high doses of chemotherapy. As a result, long stays followed in isolation to protect his weakened immune system.
"I remember at the time feeling very sick," said Mitch. "The nausea was really bad. The weakness, I did not feel good at all."
A bright spot in his treatment came when a radiologist at Cincinnati Children's recommended Mitch to Friends of Jaclyn, which matches kids with brain tumors to local high school and college sports teams. Mitch was partnered with the University of Cincinnati football team.
"They said there was going to be an adoption ceremony," said Dee Stone, Mitch's mom. "I thought it would be a couple of coaches and us. It's the whole football team. A hundred guys were sitting in this room. We came walking in and these players stood up and started clapping."
Mitch and his family became UC's biggest fans. Their joy was short lived when Mitch was moved to the intensive care unit a week later.
"I took a picture of him in the ICU with tubes coming out of everywhere and they hung that up in the locker room and those guys just prayed, prayed, prayed," said Dee. "I really believe that was when the connection was really made and they became invested in his health. After that scare they wanted to see him through this because he almost died."
"Things settled down and we managed to get him through the cycles of chemotherapy but he had a rough road of it," said Dr. Maryam Fouladi, medical director of the Brain Tumor Center at Cincinnati Children's.
Mitch battled through his chemo and when his health allowed, he cheered on the UC Bearcats from the sidelines.
"I got to go to their games and they would rally me up for all my treatments," said Mitch. "It was a lot of love and support I needed to get through my treatments."
From that relationship, the foundation "Mitch's Mission" began. Money raised from events including "Playdate with the Bearcats" sends Cincinnati Children's patients with cancer and blood diseases to summer camp at Camp Joy.
"I went to camp for 5 years. I loved every single year. It was the highlight of my summer. Camp Joy was amazing," said Mitch. "It was awesome being around a lot of kids in similar situations."
Mitch enrolled this year at UC where he is majoring in operations management. His goal is to work in hospital administration improving patient care.
"I think we can all learn from Mitch," said Dr. Fouladi. "I'm so very proud he's done so well. He's pursuing his dreams and we hope he can come back and work with us one day."
For now, he's cheering on the Bearcats from the student section.
"It's a lot of happiness that I've made it this far. I've gone through all this and it's a new start going to UC," Mitch said. "I'm really excited about this upcoming year."
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