Jacob Raleigh was born with both arms, but his dominant one was his left. Unfortunately, he contracted a rare form of cancer called Epithelioid Sarcoma. Doctors had no other options than to amputate his entire left arm.
Jacob had to completely learn how to re-play tennis with his right hand. In his senior year, he made it all the way to the state finals…but lost. Although he lost, Jacob was still proud of what he accomplished.
His partner, Tyler Smith, had this to say about him:
“To have to go through cancer, first of all. Then you have your dominant arm taken away and still to be able to come back and play like he has, it’s crazy. I don’t know if I could have done that.”
I commend Jacob for pushing through what seemed like an impossible situation. His story reminds me of the some of the problems that all of us face sometime. Any game you play in sports will always have its problems to figure out; cheers to those who figure them out.
