Ralston Valley [e]Xpress Newspaper

Parents shouldn’t have to worry about how their child is going to survive disease. A family shouldn’t see a member go through such horrible pain. However the strong Jurney family has had to endure this for the last four years. The name Nate Jurney has become a household name in the state of Colorado for the last year after the Mustang Baseball team brought home a state title. Nate’s remarkable story sounds like a Hollywood script. I can see the title of the movie now: Nate’s Journey.

The Journey of Nathan Jurney started out at the age of nine. He was named the Rockies Rookie of the Month. The lucky kid got to meet Todd Helton and a tour of Coors Field.

Continuing to play baseball, he was in the Ralston Valley Program when the bad news came in 2006. He was a sophomore when he found out he had cancer.

“I distinctly remember the day that my little brother and sister and I went down and found out; it was the most emotional day of my life,” his brother David Jurney (10) said about that day.

Soon after that, the local schools were doing everything in their power to help: holding spaghetti dinners and silent auctions to raise money. Oberon Middle School did free buzz cuts to students so students would raise awareness and to help support Nate who was about to go into chemo therapy.

Good news would follow after a few months of fighting off his cancer.

Going into his senior year, he was able to do something only so many could dream of doing. Because of his story spread through the media and he had connections with the Rockies, he was able to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Coors Field on October 14 in game three of the 2007 National League Championship Series.

“It was awesome. I was on the side watching him and I was nervous for him. I thought he was going to throw a wild pitch and embarrass the whole family with his sub par performance,” David joked. “But no, it was the time of my life, and I know that he will remember that night for the rest of his life.”

Nate’s first pitch started an incredible game where the Rockies beat the Diamondbacks in the cold rain 4-1.

Bad news followed the season as cancerous tumors started to show up on Nate’s lungs.

“We were all shaken up pretty good, but we knew we had to stay positive. And we did for Nate just so he never had the ‘bad’ thoughts enter his head,” David said.

Nate had a huge decision to make. He could have decided to get treatment, but would have had to miss out on his senior season in baseball. However, he decided to play his last season as a Mustang and prolong the treatment.

He made the right decision when he hit a huge RBI double in the State Championship.

This is where the story would usually end and the credits would usually end and the credits would start rolling, however the story does not end here. Over the summer, Nate lost his memory. He could not remember winning the State Championship and he couldn’t even remember his own brother.

“It was pretty bad when he was still in the hospital recovering, he didn’t really remember my name so that was a pretty big shock,” David said. “But he gets a little better every day and I think he’s pretty close to being back to normal.”

He can now remember winning the State Championship last year.

He has shown true love of the game. What Nate did last season was risky; however, he did it completely out of courage and hear. Something every high school athlete should look at.

Nate’s number, 17, is going to be retired in the baseball program. However, it should just be retired completely at this school. No other student in any sport should wear a Mustangs number 17 jersey again. Number 17 should be a sign of hope and courage at Ralston Valley.

“It’s kind of a symbol for Ralston Valley baseball now, it’s bigger than just a number, so we think it shouldn’t be worn by anybody from now on,” Austin Goodenow (11) said.

He played the game strictly for the love of the game. He played with passion and left a legacy no one can ever forget. Playing with cancer would surely inspire teammates to play as hard as they possibly can. That is what number 17 represents at Ralston Valley.

Nate told everyone through his last season to play every game as if it were the last. Most people would decide to do everything in order to stay alive, however Nate did everything he could in order to live.