'Yesterday was the toughest day of my life': Former Wisconsin basketball player Walt McGrory shares his story of losing part of his left leg to cancer
MADISON – Walt McGrory refuses to quit, to succumb to his condition, regardless of the obstacles he continues to face in his quest for a return to normalcy.
His plight has been physically debilitating and mentally taxing.
Cancer can crush the spirt of the most resilient individuals.
Walt McGrory was initially diagnosed with bone cancer in 2021, not long after he had transferred from Wisconsin to South Dakota
McGrory, who joined the Wisconsin men’s basketball program as a walk-on in 2017 and stayed on for four seasons, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, in August 2021.
The diagnosis came after McGrory transferred to South Dakota for his final season.
His days as a player were over. His days as a patient were just beginning.
McGrory’s latest battle came Friday, when doctors at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital had to amputate about half of his left leg.
“Yesterday was the toughest day of my life,” McGrory wrote Saturday on his Instagram page. “My goal from the day I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma was to avoid an amputation.
“After the first limb salvage surgery over a year ago, I thought it was over. The next four months of chemo would clean everything up and I’d be healthy again.
“But three months after remission, scans showed the tumor returned behind my knee. I found a surgeon who would do limb salvage when the others were telling me I needed amputation asap. Thought it was just a hiccup and a quick clean up would fix things. Even after that surgery last November when the tumor returned again behind my knee in January, I found a treatment center to complement my chemo that also believed I could avoid amputation.
“But each scan showed the tumor getting bigger the past few months. The pain got to a point where I was on crutches and couldn’t sleep for the past month. When the scan this week showed the cancer had spread to my lungs, it was the final straw.”
UW head coach Greg Gard, whose father Glen died from brain cancer in 2015, did what he could for McGrory when the diagnosis was revealed. The coaches and players chatted with McGrory via a Zoom call in September 2021.
The call was their way of visiting a former teammate who probably needed a group hug.
“For Walt to be able to see his former teammates and the team,” Gard said at the time, “I talk with the team a lot about that, about real life. It is much bigger than a win or a loss. Real life has a way of punching you between the eyes sometimes.”
McGrory, a standout at Edina High School in Minnesota, visited with UW's players and coaches last month in Minneapolis
McGrory was able to reconnect with the team last month when the Badgers closed the regular season with a 71-67 victory over the Gophers.
The visit was therapeutic but it didn’t slow the cancer attacking McGrory’s body.
“At first I felt like I failed,” McGrory wrote about losing his leg. “Kept thinking in the past about what I could’ve done differently to save my leg. Was thinking about how people would view me differently now, like I’m not the same as them anymore with half a left leg.
“But from all the support I received from friends, family, and people who don’t even know me- I realized I have an even bigger battle to fight now. Whether the odds are in my favor or not, one thing is for certain: a broken spirit doesn’t stand a chance.
“Osteosarcoma in your leg is one thing, but the lungs is a different beast. I never thought things would get to this point. I’m no longer fighting to save my leg, but for MORE LIFE!
“THANK YOU to everyone who has had my back and given me the strength to keep pushing. You have had more impact than you think. Nights in the hospital or missing out on things because of pain or the inability to do something can definitely make you feel alone. There’s no way I could have made it this past year and a half alone, and these next six months of chemo and lung surgery will be no different.
“Thank you again to everyone who has impacted my life, and I hope hearing my story helps you in some aspect of your own life.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Walt McGrory, who played basketball for Badgers, still battling cancer
