'Just keep pushing': Boonville's Eli Mayes thrives in five sports after beating leukemia

BOONVILLE, Ind. — Eli Mayes has thrived as a five-sport athlete throughout his senior year at Boonville High School.

He played soccer, ran cross country and was the football team's kicker during the fall. Then he was one of Boonville's three semistate wrestling qualifiers this winter. Now, he's running distance on the track and field team.

But Eli's life hasn't always been smooth sailing. He was diagnosed with leukemia on Nov. 23, 2015, during Thanksgiving break when he was in fourth grade.

Eli first felt pain in his leg. He had just finished running a cross country race, so there was initial concern of a pulled muscle. The following night, he went to get new running shoes with his father, Jason Mayes, who is Boonville's track coach. But Eli constantly cried in pain.

The Mayes' family doctor referred them to Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis after lesions were found on both of his legs. Then they received the tough news: Eli had leukemia.

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"I didn't really understand it too much when I was younger," said Eli, who recently turned 18. "I just knew that I was kind of sick and it wasn't very good. So just having my parents to be there and support me (and get me) through it and family and everybody telling me everything's going to be good kind of helped me stay on the right path and stay motivated."

After learning he had cancer, Eli asked his parents two important questions:

Am I going to lose my hair?

Am I going to die?

He ultimately spent 64 days in the hospital. One of his stays lasted more than three weeks.

"It changed our life right there," Jason said. "As a parent, you're there for your kids. It was hard for our younger two to understand what Eli was going through and why Mom and Dad weren't around and why Eli wasn't around. It put a little bit of a strain on me and my wife Libby being apart from each other so much, but it also grew us stronger as a family."

'We knew every day was going to be a better day'

Leukemia is the most common cancer in children and teens, accounting for almost one out of three cancers, according to the American Cancer Society. However, most children with leukemia have high remission rates.

Eli was still worried about losing his hair, so his father and the rest of the males in his family shaved their heads in support. In total, Eli underwent 1,210 days of chemotherapy, 77 chemo infusions, 27 spinal taps, nine blood transfusions and four platelet infusions.

Nevertheless, the doctors at Riley assured the Mayes family that Eli was in a good place.

"We knew that every day was going to be a better day," Jason said. "Every day that he got through without having cancer in his blood was a victory."

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Sports provided normalcy throughout Eli's fight. He played soccer and wrestled as he continued to undergo treatment.

Eli underwent his last chemo session on March 20, 2019. And he had a wrestling meet that night. When he returned to Boonville Middle School, much to Eli's surprise, the halls were lined with people congratulating him on beating cancer. The school's principal, Julie Kemp, was the main organizer and is a cancer survivor.

Once wrestling was finished, the Mayes family traveled to Nashville to keep celebrating in their "Eli's Army" T-shirts.

"We got recognized (and) we got some pictures," Eli said. "We had a lot of the family there. It was a lot of fun."

'He's not letting anything stop him'

Eli had always been a four-sport athlete at Boonville. He would play two in the fall, one in the winter and one in the spring.

But the football team needed a new kicker heading into last summer. Football assistant and head wrestling coach Dusty Marchand had a name in mind to fill the kicking role. It was Eli.

"He knew I played soccer, so he found me over the summer and got me a bag of footballs and a tee," Eli said. "He told me to just try it out a little bit. I got solid at it and tried out for the team."

Eli played in six football games last fall and was 17-of-25 on extra-point attempts. He did this while being one of the Pioneers' top soccer and cross country athletes.

"What he did in the fall playing three sports, he got stretched pretty thin," Boonville coach Darin Ward said. "But he was committed to being at every practice he could be at. At football, we only needed him certain days of the week for a little bit. But between cross country and soccer, he was a very busy guy."

The Mayes are often asked how Eli plays all these sports after beating cancer. He has a mindset that nothing will stop him.

"He's not letting anything stop him," Jason said. "His grades have been excellent. He's in AP classes. He volunteers for the Relay For Life, Make-A-Wish. He's always saying 'Hey, where can we go next? What can we do?' He just likes it."

'Just keep pushing through it'

It's now been five years since Eli beat cancer. He's officially a cancer survivor.

One thing Eli wanted during his time at Riley was a wagon, which have nameplates on the back in memory of those who passed or in honor of those who beat cancer. The Mayes are working to get a wagon with a nameplate "In honor of Eli's Army." All of the proceeds from the money raised will go to Riley.

"We did a 5K race for him the year he got sick, and we're looking to set up another 5K race," Jason said. "And all of that money is going to go straight up to Riley."

Eli will continue his running career in college nearby at Oakland City University. Jason never removes his "Eli's Army" bracelets, although a couple of them have faded from their original shade of gold. Ward refers to Eli as a "perfect example" of a Boonville High School student-athlete.

"To go against those types of odds at a young age and come out on the positive side of that and then still want to compete at a high level and be an excellent student really shows a lot of the true character of him," Ward said.

Eli has a message for any child with cancer who wants to be successful in life:

"Do what you want. Do what you love," he said. "Stay active and stay motivated. If you stay idle, you're not going to make it very far. Obviously, you're going to struggle. There's going to be tough times and good times. But just keep pushing through it. Keep God first and get your way through it."

Courier & Press sports reporter Treasure Washington can be reached via her email, treasure.washington@courierpress.com, and on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Twashington490.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Boonville's Eli Mayes thrives in five sports after beating leukemia