Two teen newlyweds were faced with a terrible prospect when the groom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. A few months after the wedding, someone paid them a visit to share a prayer with them: none other than the former NFL star Tim Tebow.
Doctors had told 18-year-old Chase Smith that his Ewing’s sarcoma (a type of bone cancer) had spread and that he had just months to live. This prompted him and his school sweetheart, Sadie, to tie the knot, and they were married on April 29, according to the Indianapolis Star.
Since then, the young Christian couple and their families have been navigating Chase’s health journey with the support of loved ones, their local Indianapolis community, and now one very famous athlete.
Tebow visited Chase and Sadie’s vacation home in Palm Coast, Florida, with staff members from the Tim Tebow Foundation. The sports star later shared photos from the June 22 visit on Twitter and asked his followers to join him in praying for the courageous young couple.
“Chase, it was so great spending time with you and your amazing wife Sadie,” Tebow wrote. “Your faith and attitude inspires me so much! Love you brother.
“Twitter family, please pray with me for Chase, his wife, and his family as he so courageously continues to fight bone cancer.”
Tebow, former Denver Bronco, delivers a pass against the New England Patriots at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, on Dec. 18, 2011. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Tebow’s message garnered a huge response. “Chase, praying for you,” one netizen replied. “I am a seven year survivor of bone cancer. With God nothing is impossible! I am living proof of that.”
“Thank you Tim Tebow for untiringly bringing hope to everyone you touch,” wrote another. “There are many people who have celebrity status but very few see beyond themselves. And yes, I am believing for healing for this precious man.”
Chase was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma at the age of 13, and his moving story made headlines. He beat the disease in 2014, and after a brief remission, he overcame the cancer a second time in 2016, and again in 2019.
However, in March 2020, Chase received heartbreaking news: tumors had returned to his back, his shoulder, his lungs, his hip, and even the lining of his brain, the family stated on Chase’s GoFundMe page.
Chase’s oncologist at Riley Hospital for Children, Dr. Melissa K. Bear, told USA Today that she has witnessed Chase’s recurring struggle over the years. “I’ve watched him grow with the cancer,” she said, “really come into his own as to what he wants and what’s important to him.”
When his prognosis became terminal, what Chase wanted most of all was to marry the love of his life. He and Sadie married in a small, intimate ceremony at home and read their vows at the end of Sadie’s parents’ driveway, the same spot where they shared their very first kiss six months earlier.
Now, Chase doesn’t want anything to tear the newlyweds apart. “He is not giving up at all,” Sadie told the Indy Star. “He’s willing to try anything and everything he can.”
The couple’s ability to handle the unknown, Chase explained, is “110 percent due to the trust in God.”
“With God, I always know I have a shot,” he added. “As long as He’s by my side, I always have the strength to do whatever.”
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