Football Coach Says Player Who Prayed for Opponent’s Mom’s Cancer Has Unshakeable Faith

The touching moment between the player, Gage Smith, and West Mesquite High School Ty Jordan came after the final whistle in a game in which Sherman beat West Mesquite 56-27. Instead of celebrating the defeat, Smith asked Jordan to kneel together for a prayer. Coach Martinez’s wife snapped a photo of the two embracing to pray, and when Jordan’s aunt posted the photo on Facebook, it reached more than 100,000 likes before it was taken down.

Smith told local Texas station WXII that he knew Jordan from a select team they both played on, and “that it was not about the score or being opponents, but about showing compassion.”

According to Martinez, this isn’t the only time Smith has led his fellow players in prayer. “On home games,” he says, “we circle up around our center logo and he leads the prayer there.”

Martinez adds, “He’s a multi-sport athlete, plays basketball and runs track. The biggest thing is his work ethic. He puts everything into everything he does.”

Information About Faith and Prayer During Cancer

For a lot of cancer survivors, faith and prayer are extremely important to the recovery process.

Breast cancer survivor Sharonda Vincent, for instance, previously told SurvivorNet that "I knew that if I just put my faith and trust in God, that I would be okay.”

Vincent discovered a lump in her left breast the day before she turned 30 — which was a month before her wedding. Her doctor initially dismissed her concerns, but follow-up tests confirmed that it was stage 2B breast cancer. "It was hard for me. I felt as if I was being punished," she said.

Breast cancer survivor Sharonda Vincent on the role of faith and God during cancer.

But after chemotherapy, radiation and hormone replacement, Vincent is doing well. She’s currently a social service advocate at the Public Defender’s Office in Philadelphia.

Vincent’s message: Don’t give up hope. Educate yourself and live every day to the fullest. "Breast cancer is no longer the end of the world," she said.

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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