Kenechi Udeze Making Comeback From Leukemia
May 31, 2009 by David Kindervater
Filed under Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings defensive end Kenechi Udeze is making a remarkable comeback. After missing the entire 2008 season while battling leukemia, he is back on the practice field with the Vikings. Kenechi was a first round Draft pick of the Vikings in 2004 and in three of his first four seasons, he played in all 16 games. Last season leukemia knocked him down but not out.
Kenechi Udeze, Minnesota Vikings / Image: Zuma Press
Kenechi had a bone marrow transplant last July and admits the road back has been a difficult one:
“I’d be lying if I said it was easy. There was never an easy point. The first time I went back to USC and started working out with the fellas, I fell. I took two steps and I fell. I took small steps at first and, to where I am now, I can’t complain.”
Kenechi recently underwent a biopsy—”Where they go in and take a little piece of your bone marrow and it hurts the day after,” he said—but he remains determined to not let it slow him down. You can’t help but pull for the guy to not only get back on the playing field, but to excel in the process. Whether it’s this season or next, I hope Kenechi Udeze can continue to be an integral part of the Vikings’ defensive success.
Source: StarTribune.com
