In rock climbing, as in life, you never know what route you’re going to get.
Just ask Micah Winkle, 17, and his parents, Jason and Felicia. When Micah was 9, doctors found that he had Ewing sarcoma, a cancer of bone and soft tissue.
A few days after Thanksgiving 2014, Micah complained of pain in his left leg. His parents figured their energetic boy had hurt himself playing with his brother and sister or maybe while doing Brazilian jiu- jitsu, a form of martial arts he enjoyed. Perhaps it was “growing pains.”
But the pain got worse. Micah didn’t want to play outside anymore. The Winkles took him to his pediatrician, who ordered an x-ray. It showed a shadow on Micah’s left thigh near his hip.
The pediatrician told Micah’s parents their son should see an oncologist.
“I asked what an oncologist is because this just wasn’t part of our world,” Jason said.