Webster’s Adrian Roman’s battle against cancer, as reported previously by The YankeeXpress, continues, taking a turn his family had hoped to avoid. 

But he is not going it alone. 

On Wednesday, October. 7, 13-year-old Adrian, a talented young athlete who was diagnosed in July with osteosarcoma, underwent surgery to remove part of his right leg above the knee. It was, doctors had determined, the best chance to help remove the cancer. 

The surgery, his mom Katlynn Roman told The YankeeXpress, went well. Adrian was recovering in the pediatric intensive care unit and was “in great spirits and ready to get up and get moving.”

In the days immediately after the surgery, Adrian was already standing up using a walker and doing “amazing,” according to his mom.

Through it all, one thing is certain: Adrian is not alone. 

In fact, he quite literally has his own army in his corner: Adrian’s Army.

A standout football player in the Oxford-Webster Youth Football and Cheer Organization, Adrian’s team and the community have rallied around him. Friends and well-wishers have donned Adrian’s Army T-shirts, and he is riding the crest of a wave of support he carries with him in his fight against cancer. 

“I’m really grateful that I have such a great community around me,” Adrian said roughly four days before his surgery as he sat on the sidelines of the football field at Oxford High School watching his team battle a rival. “I have so many people around me that support me.”

On that day, Adrian, bundled up and wearing a mask, led his team out onto the field in a wheelchair, flanked by friends and teammates, and carrying the team flag. Fans in the stands honked air horns, yelled and cheered, and many of them wore Adrian’s Army T-shirts. 

In the announcer’s booth, league President Bobby Poirier announced Adrian’s name and led fans in giving him a rousing show of support. 

“It’s the worst thing any parent can go through,” said Poirier, who has been president for nine of his 10 years involved with the league. “We have a lot of kids we feel responsible for. It’s something no kid should be going through. We want to make sure we’re there to support him anyway we can.”

Ryder Chevalier is one of Adrian’s best friends, and a teammate on the Oxford-Webster Pirates. He was there the day his friend complained of the unbearable pain in his leg. He was there hours later when they learned it was likely cancer. And he is there now, by his friend’s side.

“It has been hard considering he had so much potential to play in all sports,” Ryder said. “I can’t believe it happened to him, especially. But I just tell him to keep going, never give up on your sports dreams no matter what. Keep fighting no matter what.”

For his part, Adrian appears nowhere close to giving up on those dreams. Once he is strong enough after the surgery, another 20 cycles of chemotherapy will start up again. He’ll learn how to use a prosthetic. And, he said, he’ll play sports again.

“I’m going to be OK,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll still play basketball and baseball. I’m being taken care of by really good doctors and nurses. I’ll finish chemo, I’ll get my prosthetic, and I’m just going to be ready to go after that.”

To financially help the family, Adrian’s older sister Beatriz has created a GoFundMe page: gofundme.com/f/adrians-fight-against-osteosarcoma W