WILMINGTON, N.C. — “No bad days, just different types of good ones” — that is the way DarNell J’Vonne McLeod, also known as DJ, lived his life.
McLeod transferred to Laney High School during his sophomore year.
He was smaller than most linebackers but didn’t let that hold him back from earning a starting position on the Buccaneers' varsity team.
“The instant he got here, everybody just liked him. So he was just fun to be around,” head football coach Luke Little said.
At the end of April 2022, as McLeod was in full preseason mode, he began having stomach aches. He continued to push through as he always did.
“Finally hit a personal best on bench and he was ready to go,” Little said.
His stomach aches only began to get worse, so his family took him in to get a checkup and sought a diagnosis.
“There isn't one," said Ashanti Craine, McLeod's mom. "So what we know is that he had what they're considering an undifferentiated sarcoma. So I always felt like we were half treating it."
At the beginning, the chemotherapy and radiation treatment worked, shrinking the original tumor. But it also gave room for another tumor to grow and for lesions to form. Through this hard diagnosis McLeod remained in good spirits.
“If there was ever a moment where he was truly upset or truly sad or had negative thoughts, I couldn't tell you,” Craine said.
Going into his senior year, McLeod was supposed to be on the football field, enjoying his season. Instead, he spent it in and out of hospitals fighting cancer. Even though his treatment had him constantly exhausted, he wanted to make sure he would graduate high school. And he did just that.
“I did it. I did it. I'm done," Craine said he told her. "I was like, yeah. And then, like, the next day, he was like, 'I think this is where I want to go to college.' I was like, OK. I said, 'Well, hey, let's get through this journey and prepare for the next,'” she said.
McLeod was planning ahead. Despite a terminal diagnosis, he continued to envision himself back on the football field. He began looking at how to play in college. Plan A was to join the N.C. A&T football team and Plan B was to attend a junior college to play football and then transfer to a university.
McLeod’s constant good attitude no matter the circumstances has inspired many.
“I think that's the way he approached cancer. He's just like, you know, I just roll my sleeves up and go to work and no need to pout and no need to complain, just fight this thing,” Little said.
“To be happy all the time, you know, it means to always be positive, during all the lows, all the highs," said Daren Brown, McLeod’s best friend. "Never forget about God because he's the one that gives you all the glory in the end.”
Donald Craine, McLeod’s dad, said: “Having the faith and keep pushing for you regardless of what you're going through. He said many times, regardless of your different good days, because he don't say bad days, you keep pushing through, all right? And you keep that faith, all right? And keep pushing forward."
McLeod died peacefully March 10. He left behind family, friends, teammates and a legacy that will be remembered for generations.
“What I take from this experience is that you go through challenges," McLeod says in a video recorded while he was in the hospital. "You've got the difficult challenges, easy challenges. It's just you just got to be able to fight for it. And what I want people to know is that, don't give up. Do not give up on yourself. Do not give up on beating it. If you’re out there and you’re fighting cancer, don't give up."
Ashanti Craine started the DJ McLeod Foundation and with it a memorial scholarship. The first scholarship recipient is Malachi Thomas.