Chris Dillon started the school year like a lot of other 16-year-old boys. He lived and breathed Foley High School football, volunteered with the Foley Youth Football League and went to school.  

But at the beginning of October, Chris got a cold that wouldn’t go away. He was prescribed antibiotics for a sinus infection. Then he got a steroid shot and more medicine. But he wasn’t getting better, and after playing in a football game Monday, Oct. 1 and practicing Tuesday, he realized he was too sick to play — an unusual event in his years playing sports.

“Chris is one that usually, if he rolled his ankle or something, he wouldn’t tell you about it — he’d just push on through,” said Mikel Riggs, defensive back coach for the Foley High School Lions.

The diagnosis

No one could have imagined what happened next. Chris’ doctor ran blood work, and his white blood cell count was elevated to more than 100,000.

Friday, Oct. 5, Chris was admitted to the University of South Alabama’s Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Mobile and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer that starts in the bone marrow and inhibits healthy blood cell production.

“That was probably the worst feeling I’ve ever had in my life,” said Jeana Dillon, Chris’ mother. “I’m a pretty strong mom and generally think I can handle anything, but that was something that was really hard for me to handle — because I couldn’t fix it.”

Within an hour and a half of his diagnosis, Chris was accepted into St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, and he has been there ever since. His treatment should last six to eight months, Jeana said.

AML is rare in children, and Chris also has a gene mutation that means his cancer will probably not respond well to chemotherapy. He will most likely have to have a bone marrow transplant, and fortunately, his 15-year-old sister is a perfect match.

The “acute” in AML means the disease develops quickly. There was no warning, and the news was shocking and sudden for Chris and the entire community, Jeana said.

“From the time he found out until the night of the Fairhope-Foley pregame show, he was kind of in a shell,” she said. “He was more or less absorbing everything everybody was saying. He didn’t have a lot to say, and didn’t really talk to anybody, including me.”

Overwhelming gratitude

Chris’ teammates and others in the community knew they had to do something to help him. In addition to planning and publicizing a fish fry benefit Nov. 3 that raised $7,000 for the Dillon family’s medical costs, the community has rallied around Chris emotionally, sending him encouraging cards, posting messages on Facebook and even including him in football events.

Oct. 13, Foley High’s coaching staff brought a laptop to the pregame pep rally before the Foley vs. Fairhope football game. Through FaceTime, Chris was able to watch and participate in the pep rally with the rest of his teammates.

“Those guys got a little emotional when they saw him,” Riggs said. “It’s amazing what technology can do. We want to just involve Chris as much as we can and help his transition up to Memphis be as smooth as possible.”

Jeana said this was a turning point in Chris’ attitude and outlook on the situation.

“It was a turning point for him because he got to see everybody,” Jeana said. “He was talking in sign language and he had on his football jersey. It was amazing. Just to see him interacting was great.”

Since then, Chris has stayed in close communication with a few friends, and he feels the support of the community, Jeana said.

A community united

The family has received support from all over the region — even from rival football teams like Fairhope High School and Northview High School in Dothan — and the core of the support comes from people who have known the Dillons for years through the Foley Youth Football League, like Joe and Kelli Collins.

“What’s really been amazing is that the Foley community as a whole, from churches to youth sports programs to the high school program, they have all come together,” Joe said. “What’s also amazing is that it’s not just the Foley community, but the whole county itself. When you go against rivals, every year in every sport, you’re enemies in that second, but to come together in a moment like this is really, really neat.”

Chris has volunteered with Joe’s football and baseball teams for years.

“He’s always had a big impact on my teams,” Joe said. “He really has that coach’s mentality and coach’s heart. Even though he’s only 16, you can see it in him that one day he’s going to be that coach and that role model. He’s got such a servant’s heart.”

Joe said after the community learned about Chris’ diagnosis, people immediately began working to raise awareness about leukemia.

“Ever since this happened, it’s been a really inspiring thing. The whole Foley youth community has done anything we can to be supportive,” Joe said. “Most of our uniforms have always been navy blue and white or navy blue and gold, and we’ve actually turned our secondary color into orange.”

Orange is the awareness color for leukemia, like pink is for breast cancer.

The most touching show of support has come from the kids Chris has mentored through sports over the years, Joe said.

“You’ll even hear the kids saying, ‘Look, maybe we’re down by a touchdown or we’ve got a few minutes left. Let’s play like Chris would. Let’s do what Chris would do,’ and that’s giving 100 percent every single play,” Joe said.

And even though Chris is out of sports for a while, he’s still giving 100 percent, fighting his disease every day.

“See you soon,” is Chris’ only message for friends back home.

“His coaches have always told him to finish, and that’s what he’s going to do,” Jeana said. “He’s going to finish.”