In contest with dread disease, athlete hopes for victory

For some athletes, the biggest battles happen off-field. 

Maurice Whyte is one of those rare athletes whose superior athletic ability just seems to come naturally. During his tenure at Lehman College, Whyte has been a captain of the Lightning track and field team and has been a two-time captain of the soccer team.

There are rewards for a player who can handle the grand stage, deliver in the clutch and handle adversity with courage and calm.

But none of Whyte’s on-field encounters with premium rivals could match the one he crossed paths with on May 21, 2016. The opponent this time was acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. It’s a diagnosis that would send a cold shiver down the spine of anyone who was handed that news.

But as he has done throughout his playing career at Lehman, Whyte met his opponent head on, the only way he knows how to handle such situations. And eight months later, he is winning again.

“I stated feeling sick in April when I had some nosebleed problems,” Whyte said. “I was feeling weak and I was picking up every little infection and I was passing out and I wasn’t able to run for more than three minutes.”

Finally on the night of May 20, Whyte came down with a dangerously high fever and had to be transported to the hospital. Over the next couple of days, and after countless blood, heart and lung tests, Whyte finally got a name for his new opponent.  

“I had a high fever, 104.5, and that’s when I was taken to the hospital by ambulance,” Whyte said. “They then drew 21 tubes of blood and didn’t find anything. Then they did a spinal tap and that’s when they saw glimpses of leukemia and they admitted me. 

The next day, on May 22, they did a bone marrow biopsy and that’s what showed that I actually had leukemia.”

That was among the last things Whyte thought he would hear from doctors at Einstein Medical Center. Whyte thought the root of his problem was far more simplistic.

“I actually thought it was eating at this particular restaurant that got me sick,” Whyte said with a laugh. “It was on National Pancake Day [March 8] and I don’t eat pancakes but I lost a bet and my friend said, ‘Hey, you lost a bet so you go to eat one.’  So I thought that was the problem when I started not feeling good. But then it lasted too long and all the time it was nosebleeds, nosebleeds, nosebleeds. So I was like. ‘What’s going on?’”

After his diagnosis, Whyte was transferred to Montefiore Medical Center, because “Montefiore is the only medical facility that treats leukemia in the Bronx,” Whyte said. And Montefiore remained his home for months.

“What followed after the diagnosis was a rigorous course of chemotherapy,” Whyte said. “I had six months of chemotherapy and the first round was pretty much the worst, to be honest with you, because it was 21 straight days of chemotherapy, plus 10 days to see how your body reacts to the treatment. It was hard. It takes everything away from you. It takes away your taste buds, your complexion, your hair, your appetite – all of that is gone.”

Doctors told Whyte that due to his prime physical conditioning, he could withstand the chemotherapy protocol they administered, and he began his chemo sessions on May 23.

“It was very aggressive.” he said. “What chemotherapy does is it cleans out both good and bad cells out of your body. So your body has to be in good physical condition to withstand that. So basically, my body was in good shape. Part of it was being an athlete, and part of it was me taking care of myself.”

Whyte’s treatments continued though the spring and summer, before finally coming to an end in the fall with a stem cell transplant in October. 

Cancer cost Whyte his shot at graduating from Lehman this year, as he missed the entire fall semester and plans on sitting out the spring semester as he regroups. It also, to a lesser degree, cost him his soccer season and playing for a Lightning team that eventually went on to win the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) championship this year and advance to the Division III NCAA Tournament.

Kicking butt

Just added incentive for Whyte to keep kicking cancer’s butt.

“So I’m coming back next fall to finish my studies and graduate and play my last year of soccer,” Whyte said, barely containing his glee.

Whyte said there were also some hard times, even once he was out of the hospital and treatments had ceased. They continue even now, he said, as some family members have yet to visit him.

“Some of my family couldn’t visit me because it was too tough to see me without my dreadlocks,” Whyte said. “My dreads were about 9-10 inches long, so to see me without my hair it was an emotional breakdown for them.”

But Whyte got a nice pick-me-up from the Lehman College community last Friday night when, prior to the women’s basketball game in Lehman’s 10th Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament, Whyte was introduced to the crowd as he walked out of the locker room, through a line of Lehman players and on to center court. There was a loud ovation, and not every eye in the house was dry.

“I didn’t expect that at all,” said Whyte, who was on hand to help out with the tournament. “Being part of the Lehman College varsity family, I usually volunteer when there is a function here at school. I’m always getting involved. I maybe work the food court or hand out T-shirts, whatever they need. But this was one of the first things that came to mind while I was in the process of fighting cancer. I spoke to [women’s] coach [Eric] Harrison in October, and I told him I wanted to be more involved with this tournament. But that introduction I wasn’t expecting. I just wanted to help out any way I can. I’m no stranger to the Lehman College family. They know about my history and what I’ve done for the school and with the school, and they know I’m recovering from cancer.”

Team player

Though he didn’t get to participate in the soccer season this year, Whyte’s teammates made sure he felt like he was part of the team. He made several games, whenever his treatment schedule would allow, and teammate Maurice Blake played the role of chauffeur, picking up Whyte for games and returning him home after they were over.

And Blake and the other members of the Lightning soccer team all made the same vow to Whyte – that they would win a championship for him.

“It brought tears to my eyes because the guys were like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe he isn’t going to be playing with us. So I’m going to play the way he’d be playing if he was here,’” Whyte said. “And Maurice and the other guys would call me and text me and say, ‘We’re doing this for you.’ They even brought me to the championship game and I was there in living color. I was probably one of the first ones running onto the field when the [final] whistle blew. It was a great moment. It was my win as well.”

Whyte had a follow-up visit with his doctor on Dec. 17 and all went well. There is another scheduled for Feb. 24, when the very positive Whyte expects similar results.  

Still an optimist

In a world of glass-half-full and glass-half-empty people, Whyte’s glass is overflowing with optimism, and a little thing like a six-month battle with cancer is not going to change that.

“I’ve always had a good outlook on life and during this time I had some down moments but I didn’t have a sad moment,” Whyte said. “My biggest struggle overcoming cancer was the mental aspect of it. Being isolated at home and in the hospital would hit me mentally. It was an unfortunate situation. It could happen to anybody and it happened to me. But I always believed you always get the strongest battles because you can manage it. So this was one of those things that told me, ‘Hey Maurice, maintain a positive vibe on life.’ This really enhanced my positive look at life.”