How many athletes can you think of who have been forced to
take three years off due to injury or sickness, only to come back stronger and
start in their return to their respective sport? I can only think of one – Drew
Babb, Senior Defenseman for the University of Denver Lacrosse team.
Drew Babb had just finished his high school career at Arapahoe
High School where he was a four-year varsity letterman, a two-time All-State
selection, an All-American as a mid-fielder, and a team captain who led his
team to a state championship title in 2009. He was slated to play Division I
lacrosse at the University of Denver, where he would presumably continue the
immense success that he had in high school. Babb’s future coach at the
University of Denver, Bill Tierney, was expecting nothing less of the talented,
high school phenom.
“He was a guy you couldn’t stop gushing
about,” Coach Tierney told Lax Magazine in an interview last year. “What a
great player this kid was.”
Unfortunately for
Drew, the story was not going to go quite like that. Drew had been
competing with neck pain in his senior season at Arapahoe after his neck began
to swell in February of 2009. He was in and out of the doctor’s office for the
next few months after repeated failed attempts to treat the swelling. Drew’s
doctor had him take a full biopsy on July 1st after graduating from
high school. The day after, Drew was watching TV when his father walked back into the house shortly after he was supposed to have left for work and passed on grave news to him from his doctor – Drew had been diagnosed with Stage I Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Drew’s father received the results and delivered
the news to his son. Drew was more shocked than panicked when he heard the
news.
“When my Dad told me the news, he
was very positive about it. It was very comforting to know how good it was that
we caught it that early,” Drew told me over the phone.
Drew subsequently
went through five months of chemotherapy while taking classes at the University
of Denver during his freshman year. When asked about the difficulties of
managing a college course load and attending practices along with the
chemotherapy, Drew downplayed it and attributed his ability to manage the work
to the administration and professors at DU. There are no classes at DU on
Fridays, so Drew would receive chemo Friday, wait for the nausea to subside,
and return to class on Monday.
“I would miss classes on Mondays
occasionally, especially later in the treatment when the nausea was worse,”
Drew commented.
At the end of
this five-month period, the doctors could find no trace of the cancer. However,
during the third round of his chemo, another obstacle blocked Drew’s path on
his way to recovery. Like most cancer patients who endure chemotherapy, Drew
lost his hair and was very nauseous. Although, in addition to the other
symptoms, Drew had exceptionally bad body aches in his hips. He would later find out that the reason for this was Avascular Necrosis, which is a condition that was deteriorating
Drew’s right hipbone because of a lack of blood supply. This meant a year’s
worth of inactivity according to Drew’s doctors – thus ending his hopes of
playing his freshman year at the University of Denver.
Even after being
diagnosed with Hodgkin’s, Drew was expecting to be able to play in the spring
of his freshman year. When he found out he had AVN in his right hip, he thought
he would at least be ready to play by his sophomore year. When he was rehabbing
in the summer of 2010, a week before the fall practices began, the doctors
informed Drew that his right hipbone was growing back on schedule; however, the
AVN was infecting his left hip as well, and it was not healing like his right
hip did. Thus, the doctors drilled holes in Drew’s hips to increase blood flow to
expedite bone regeneration. Unluckily for Drew, this meant that his collegiate
career was being cut in half because he would not be able to play his sophomore
season either.
Although Drew had
not been cleared to play for two years, he was still around his teammates and
assisting the team in whatever way he could. To stay in shape in the fall of
2010, Drew swam. As time went on, he began to use the stationary bike and the
elliptical, but until he had his final bone scan, he would not be able to run
unless it was evident that the AVN had disappeared and his hipbones were
growing back.
When asked about
the frustration of being on the sidelines, Drew said, “It was definitely
frustrating, especially sophomore year it got tougher. I was expecting all
freshman year to be able to play that season, and it didn’t happen.”
In February of
his sophomore year, Drew received news from the doctors that he would be able to
play again.
“The week leading up to those scans
was the most uncomfortable week I felt throughout the whole experience of not
being able to play, and that includes being diagnosed with cancer and going
through chemotherapy. Because, essentially, [the scan] was going to determine
whether or not I would ever be able to run again.”
That week, Drew
met with Coach Tierney in what turned out to be one of the most calming and
helpful conversations that Drew would have throughout his treatments. Coach
Tierney asked Drew how he was doing, and Drew said he was nervous. Coach
Tierney told Drew he may not understand why all of this stuff was happening to
him now, but he will someday.
“That really helped me get back to
that comfort level. Whether I can play or not was not up to me,” stated Drew
after talking about the assurance of Coach Tierney’s words.
Drew always tried to stay positive about the whole process. He is
very open about his faith as a Christian, and it was that faith and the
Christian household he grew up in that really helped him get through all of the
hardships and stay positive. He stated that it was God’s plan, and that he will
do what he can, but ultimately will trust in what God has in store for him.
Even after Drew
was informed he would play again, that did not mean he was free of the
challenges that being on a nationally ranked, division I lacrosse program would
bring. Drew was an All-American mid-fielder in high school, but Coach Tierney
was in need of defensemen when Drew’s junior year rolled around. To add even
more obstacles to returning to his former self on the field, Drew was moved to
close defense in the off-season after showing his propensity for the position
in a scrimmage against the Denver Outlaws, the local professional lacrosse team.
When it came to
switching positions, Drew just seemed happy to be back on the field and playing
again. However, when he exceeded even his own expectations and saw a potential
starting spot opening up for him, he began to appreciate the ability to play
while also wanting to compete.
When Drew took
the field for the first time since his injury, he described the day as follows:
“It was surreal. During warm-ups, I
was just looking around and realizing what I was about to do after what I had
been through the past years. It was just so exciting to be playing instead of
watching,” Drew said.
Evidently, it did
not take Drew long to acclimate himself to playing a new position after taking
two years off, because Drew started Denver’s season opener against the Ohio
State Buckeyes and never looked back, starting all 16 games that season. He
played through intense pain all year, and the amount he was allowed to play was
at his own discretion.
In addition to
the pain he felt because of the AVN, late in the regular season Drew tore his
labrum and played through the pain believing it was the AVN. He went to
the doctor for another scan, and was informed he would have to undergo another
surgery to repair the labrum and spend six months recovering.
After yet another
setback, Drew fought through it and did not allow self-pity to sink in.
“Every time I started feeling sorry
for myself, I would start thinking about Tommy [Mallon] and his neck injury. I have seen
friends go through things like this,” said Drew. “I did
my chemo at the local children’s hospital and saw children taking chemo at ages
4 and 5. I would think about those kids going through worse diseases than me,
and say if they could do it then so can I.”
Drew continues to
play through the pain. When the weather changes it is especially bad, and on
rare occasions he has to pull himself out of the game. At the beginning of
this year, the labrum was brutal. However, as time has gone on he has gotten
stronger and stronger.
“I feel stronger this year in the
playoffs than I did in last year’s playoffs,” said Drew when asked about how he
currently feels.
Drew and his
teammates at the University of Denver play in the Lacrosse Nationals Semi-Final
game against top-ranked Syracuse, and Drew likes their odds.
“We feel good about [tomorrow]. Once
you get this far it is really anybody’s game,” said Drew about DU’s chances
against the #1 team in Syracuse.
Drew succeeded in
battling against cancer, bone deterioration, and a torn labrum just to play in
tomorrow’s game, so upsetting the nation's top-ranked lacrosse team would just be like
any other day for a guy like Drew.
