SAN ANTONIO — It was the start of his eighth-grade football season and Carter Ragsdale was playing quarterback for his team. During one of his team’s scrimmages, he started to feel a little off and complained about his stomach hurting. He developed a fever and still felt bad a few days later, so his family decided to take him to the emergency room. That trip to the hospital changed Carter’s life.
“They didn’t let him leave once he got to the hospital for about three to four weeks,” said Jason Ragsdale, Carter’s father. “It really went downhill from there.”
“They finally told us we were going home because I just had like a flu or common cold,” Carter said. “Chicken noodle soup and some water will cure it, but then figured out it was way more serious than that.”
Tests would show that Carter, who was 14 at the time, had leukemia. He would begin chemo treatments immediately.
“No one ever wants to hear that word and I don’t care who it’s about,” Jason said. “But when it’s your child and there’s nothing you can do, there’s no more helpless feeling in the world.”
Carter was now in the beginning stages of a long battle to beat cancer.
“Something my dad always told me was just win today because it’s a bigger battle than you can picture as a 14-year-old kid,” said Carter. “You never know if you’re going to get to that next day.”
“He never once asked why, he didn’t bat an eye, just what’s next,” said Jason. “We knew our job was to support and love, his job was to take the medicine and figure out how he could make himself stronger.”
There were many days spent in the hospital, lots of treatment to go through and, overall, some tough times. Through all of that, Carter was able to take positives in any progress.
“A win sometimes would be like eating a couple of goldfish, getting out of bed sometimes or having a sip of water,” Carter said. “Small little things are what we classified as wins.”
We knew we were going to make it to the end. It was just a journey,” Jason said. “It’s a grueling journey and there are many moments in time you’re crying, trying to laugh and figure out ways to get through this together. His strength actually helped us get through this.”
He needed that strength to get through 3 1/2 years of fighting this disease. But on Jan. 12 of this year he got to the finish line of this fight. Carter got to ring the bell to signify the end of treatment.
“It was definitely a shocked moment,” Carter said. “I couldn’t picture at the start it happening. It was a long battle but we’re through it now. On to bigger and better things.”
One of those things that Carter is on to is resuming his baseball career full time. He’s played some the past few years when he’s felt OK but he’s back now and a part of the New Braunfels varsity team. Recently, he made his first start as a pitcher during the team’s opening weekend tournament.
“To see him out here, there’s nothing I can say to replace that feeling,” Jason said.
“It’s really truly meant the world being out here with all my friends,” said Carter. “Being able to play the game I love.”
Carter is not back at his full strength, but that will come in time. He appreciates where he’s at now and sees life through a different lens than most teenagers.
“He has such a different outlook on life at this point, where there’s nothing about competing he doesn’t love but also understands at the end of the day that he’s fought something much bigger,” Jason said. “He’s just enjoying this game and that’s a lesson we can all learn.”