California high school student battling cancer walks with graduating class

Publish date: 2024-05-21

It's graduation season, and one graduate overcame the odds to be at his high school commencement on Thursday.

Two years ago, Malachi Rios was diagnosed with stage four testicular cancer that spread to his lungs. After fighting the cancer for a year and a half, the Reedley High School senior was able to walk at his graduation.

He played for the Reedley Football team his junior year but stopped playing two games into his senior season to start chemotherapy in San Francisco.

But he wasn't going to let that keep him from finishing high school on his own two feet.

Goals for yourself big or small and graduations of anything you know, especially in my scenario graduation," said Rios. "Just want to show people things aren't possible. You know, just keep working."

With chemotherapy not working, and with limited treatment options in the U.S. for his rare form of cancer, his family raised over $70,000 to fund a cutting-edge therapy in Mexico.

He received the treatment last month.

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