WARREN, Ohio — Dozens of elite athletes in Northeast Ohio were honored Wednesday at the 20th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards. Athletes from all levels — middle school, high school, college and professional — were recognized for their unparalleled achievements.
Skylar Scarnecchia, an 8th grader at Champion Middle School in Warren, was honored with the Cleveland Clinic Sports Health Courage Award.
- The eighth-grader was diagnosed with a rare form of soft-tissue cancer at the age of 10, and doctors had to amputate part of her leg
- She's now in remission, playing basketball, volleyball and running track
- She hopes to become an inspirational speaker and a Paralympian.
Scarnecchia was diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma, a rare form of soft-tissue cancer, at the age of 10. She went through chemotherapy, but the tumor on the ball of her right foot wasn't responding to treatments. Doctors said her best option was amputation of her right leg below the knee.
"It flipped our lives around. Nobody would really think this would happen to them, but it did," said Scarnecchia. "I wasn't sad when I first heard, I just was like, oh that's one less foot I have to clip toenails on."
Scarnecchia stayed level-headed with a smile on her face throughout her cancer journey. Now, at 13 years old, she's three years in remission and has a prosthetic leg.
Scarnecchia is a top-notch athlete, playing basketball, volleyball and she runs track.
"I actually knew I was going to be backup on the court, which is probably why I didn't have a negative thought about not being limited to all the stuff I did," said Scarnecchia.
"The fact she's able to accomplish sports, and the fact she's able to participate, and do so at a decently high level, shows her resilience," said Dr. Nathan Mesko, Scarnecchia's orthopedic oncologist at Cleveland Clinic.
Scarnecchia says it's humbling to be honored with the courage award.
"I would have never thought three years ago or even last year that I'd be getting this award. It's just a huge opportunity and makes me really happy that I get to use this as a platform to inspire others," she said.
Scarnecchia has big dreams of becoming an inspirational speaker and a Paralympian. Her story, which embodies courage, proves that no matter the setback, there's always a comeback.
"There are very few people on this planet that between the ages of 10 and 13, that display the resilience and the courage and the absolute maturity level that Skylar has shown, which I think is a huge reason why she's very deserving of the courage award," said Mesko.
"The stuff that happens to us, we don't really know the reason why, but it does happen for a reason. You can, after a hard time, you can always get back up and do whatever you want to do," said Scarnecchia.
