Heavily involved in athletics during his time at Kingfisher High School, Stone Snodgrass knows competition and the supporting cheers of those around him.

Earning honors in football, wrestling, track, as well as drama, during his high school career, Stone is now a sophomore studying finance at the University of Oklahoma.

Recently, he experienced overwhelming hometown support once again as he took on a new foe - cancer.

Having discovered a mass earlier this year, Stone said, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The doctor told him that it is very treatable with early diagnosis, but often men will let it go for a while and that is where they can get into trouble.

“I was very fortunate I caught it early,” Stone said.

In September, he had surgery to remove the cancer and was given two options for the next step, he said.

He could undergo a round of chemotherapy following the surgery or have “active surveillance” for five years which would require frequent scans and blood tests to monitor for possible reoccurrence of cancer.

“For me I thought it was better to take an active approach rather than worrying it might return,” Stone said. He would still need monitoring, but on a less frequent basis after chemotherapy.

It was a scary time, but his parents Mark and Angie, as well as his younger siblings Slade, Scout and Steel, were there to back him up, as were other family and friends.

His treatment consisted of five consecutive days of chemotherapy followed by two more treatments over the next two weeks.

With a competitor’s mindset, Stone said, “I went into it thinking I’m going to kick chemo’s butt.”

It turned out to be a little tougher than he anticipated.

Not figuring on the cumulative effect of the treatments, Stone said, “I initially told my mom it wasn’t as bad as the flu...but as it went on, it was definitely worse.”

As difficult as the diagnosis and treatment were, his mother Angie said, “Stone never felt sorry for himself.”

While taking treatments, Stone said he encountered many people who had a more difficult path to follow than he did.

As a friend had mentioned to him, Stone said, during crisis people often run into or away from their faith in God.

“The way I see it is that I have already been given the greatest gift of salvation,” he said. “Am I supposed to expect that’ will never have cancer?”

While he was receiving chemotherapy, a storm of support was forming on the homefront.

At KHS a day of support was dedicated to Stone and his favorite “color” of red, white and blue.

“Stone loves his country and to him they are one color bringing people together in divided times,” Angie said.

What started out as one day of support turned into a full-fledged community display of supporting red, white and blue.

On that day, a group of middle school girls, including Stone’s younger sister Scout, wore a uniquely designed t-shirt in honor of Stone. The idea of Remi Boutwell and her mother Dana, and with the help of Kim Sigl, owner of Dsignz, the t-shirt design embodied the character of Stone with its “Stone Strong” logo intertwined cross and patriotic colors.

Once the other students saw it, they wanted one and it blossomed from there, said.

Order forms for the t-shirt appeared in many localbusinesses and “Stone Strong” began to show up on marquee signs, social media and all over town.

By this time, Stone’s girlfriend Emily Sanders and her mother Shelley had taken on the monumental task of collecting 221 orders, turning them over to Sigl to be printed and then distributing them within a two-week timeframe.

“It was a crazy amount of response from the community and how people came together to support Stone,” Emily said.

Wanting the “Stone Strong” campaign to be bigger than himself, Stone said he wanted the money raised to benefit others.

With suggestions from Angie and Emily where to donate the benefits, Stone decided he wanted it to help children fighting cancer.

The decision was made that the money raised in Stone’s name would be donated to the Children’s Hospital Foundation, specifically the Jimmy Everest Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases in Children.

Close to her heart as the Children’s Hospital Foundation teen board president, Emily said, “I was very excited he chose that...I love that organization.”

“The support and love the community gave to Stone and our family was amazing,” Angie said.

When people began to find out what their family was going through, Angie said, the phone calls, texts, prayers and support on social media helped them know they weren’t alone.

“We always knew we weren’t alone because of our faith in God, but when the community wrapped around us like they did, we felt their warmth and love and knew we would get through this and we did,” Angie said.

“There are no words to describe the emotion and love our family felt at that time and we will never forget it.”

Another point Angie, as well as Stone, stressed was the lack of awareness about testicular cancer and the increased success of treatment and survival with early detection.

“There is a huge amount of awareness for early detection in breast cancer, but there seems to be a lack of awareness when it comes to testicular cancer,” Angie said.

Even as a 20-year-old, Stone recognizes the impact his story can make on other lives and he said he is not embarrassed about it and wants others to be aware and proactive.

With early detection, as with Stone’s cancer, there is a high cure rate, Angie added.

With surgery and chemotherapy behind him, Stone said he isn’t 100 percent recovered, but is working out again, getting caught up on school work and thankful for all the support he’s received.

This month, he and Emily were able to present a check from the “Stone Strong” t-shirt sales and donations for $3,500 to the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Expressing her appreciation, Angie said what started out small grew into something big that provided money to help other children and families dealing with cancer.

“I’m so glad we were able to give them a part of the community’s love we felt and pass it on,” she said.

“I wasn’t really in volved, because I was going through chemo, but I’m really glad they gave in my name and helped other kids going through cancer,” Stone said.

“I love being in a community like ours.”