Quakertown's Braden Sell overcomes childhood cancer to start in football for Panthers

QUAKERTOWN — Braden Sell couldn't wait to play football in Quakertown's 15th Childhood Cancer Awareness Night on Friday.

Sell had participated in seven of those nights as a cancer survivor starting at the age of 8, five years after being diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma non-Hodgkin's. He's been part of the past three as a lineman on the Panthers' football team.

But in the second quarter of last week's 21-0 victory over previously unbeaten Plymouth Whitemarsh, Sell tore his right ACL and meniscus, which required season-ending surgery Wednesday. He had been a two-way starting tackle for the Panthers.

"I was really looking forward to that game," Sell said. "Just be able to represent the kids in the community going through that, like I have."

Sell, a Quakertown senior, insisted on going to Friday night's 20-17 loss to Council Rock South at Alumni Field in which the Panthers led 17-7 midway through the third quarter. He was in the locker room with his teammates beforehand and spoke to them as a group and to some individually. He also joined the captains from both schools at midfield for the pregame coin toss at the behest of Quakertown head coach George Banas despite being in a wheelchair.

Afterward, his teammates went over to Sell one by one, leaned down, shook his hand and hugged him. "I'm sorry, man," said one lineman. They knew how much it meant to Sell.

"It's a huge night for us as a community and Braden's a big part of that with what he went through," Banas said.

Sell was diagnosed with cancer as a 3-year-old on Jan. 5, 2010.

Sell's pediatrician thought he had a lingering cold before the Sell family went out to dinner to celebrate having moved into a new home they still live in nearly 14 years later. Braden was tired and listless when they returned, so parents Justin and Jennifer took him right up Route 309 to Lehigh Valley Hospital. Doctors initially believed he had pneumonia. However, when Justin Sell saw the face of the technician giving the X-ray go blank, he knew the news wasn't good.

With T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma non-Hodgkin's, the body produces too many T-cells and exisiting cells don't die to make room for the new ones.

During his two-year cancer journey, Braden Sell underwent 27 spinal taps, six blood infusions, nine platelet counts and dozens of chemotherapy treatments.

The second oldest of four boys, Sell received chemo for the last time Jan. 7, 2012, at the age of 5.

"He was always upbeat," said Justin Sell of Braden during that time.

"I don't remember a ton," Braden said. "There was some bad stuff, but the (Lehigh Valley) nurses helped me through the process and made it a lot more tolerable. I really appreciate those people."

Though he's been in remission for nearly 12 years, Braden Sell is considered 98 percent likely to avoid having cancer again. Medical studies have shown the chances the disease comes back are slightly higher with a person who had pediatric cancer than somebody who didn't.

The 6-foot, 230-pound Sell volunteered at the week-long Pediatric Cancer Foundation of Lehigh Valley camp for kids undergoing treatment over the summer and found it rewarding because he knew exactly what they were going through and they understood he had been in their shoes.

"It was a really great experience to be able to help them, get their mind off everything that's going on, give them a week of peace and get away from all that," he said.

Sell enjoyed huddling with the team and interacting with the captains and players when he was younger at the Quakertown Childhood Cancer Awareness Nights. It was a memorable evening for him.

It still is.

"I feel like, as a player, it gives a heightened sense of motivation of playing for the kids and wanting to represent them," he said.

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On June 8, 2022, Sell tore the PCL and partially tore the ACL in his left knee, as well as suffered ligament damage in his right foot, from an ATV accident. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal Stansbury from Lehigh Valley said Sell could play football on the PCL and, with the foot, it was a matter of pain tolerance, according to Justin Sell.

Braden Sell played four games at offensive tackle as a junior before he was forced to shut down. He underwent surgery on the PCL and ACL that Nov. 18.

"When someone tells him he can't do this, he says, 'I hear you. If I can't get it done today, give me another day,'" Justin Sell said. "The word 'stop' is not (part of his vocabulary)."

Sell was injured in his fourth game as a senior.

"Last year with surgery and now this year again with surgery — that's what we preach to the kids is you never know when that final play will be, so you've got to play every down like it's your last play," Banas said.

"It's just tough — you want to win across the board. He knows his (high school) career is over. We just thought maybe we could do something pretty special and go from there, but it wasn't meant to be."

While disappointed with Friday's outcome, Sell realizes that dealing with pediatric cancer has given him perspective. "I appreciate things more," he said. "I can persevere through things that are difficult."

As for his future, Sell hasn't given up on playing college football.

"I'd jump at the opportunity (anywhere)," he said. "I just want to play ball."

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Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Quakertown senior beats childhood cancer, becomes starting lineman