Reedley High School football player in remission after battle with stage 4 cancer

REEDLEY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A high school athlete in Reedley has made a miraculous comeback after being sidelined by cancer.

Malachi Rios is a junior at Reedley High School.

Late last year, he was diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer that spread to his right lung and lymph nodes.

"One night I couldn't sleep at all, I just felt like my spine was getting pulled on. We went to the emergency room and they said we have to do emergency surgery," said Rios.

That emergency room visit came after months of back pain that he though was related to working hard through football season.

Rios had several what are called germ cell tumors. Testicular cancer in kids and teens is much different than in adults.

He went through three rounds of chemotherapy.

"It was the second round that really got me. The second round, I started losing my hair and stuff," said Rios.

While at Valley Children's, Rios made a special friend, Alexander -- who is also battling cancer. He says his bond with Alexander helped him fight on.

The team of doctors also helped make the difficult journey easier and one other person.

"It's my mom. It's great to have a mom, right? She takes care of everything," said Rios.

His determination to beat cancer is just as strong as his determination to get back in the game. He went back to practice the week after he finished chemo.

Now that Malachi's tackled cancer, he's ready to tackle any challenge - both on and off the field.

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