Standing at 5 feet 11 inches, and weighing in at 185 pounds, 17 year old Drew Maguire is the picture of health. Engage in a short conversation with him and it becomes immediately obvious that this health is something his life centers around. Whether he mentions how much he lifted that day, talks about one of the various sports he plays, or brings up his new protein powder, Drew makes sure to include his love for staying in shape in most of his interactions. Knowing how Drew is today, it can be pretty hard to believe that just seven years ago he was given a diagnosis that would change the course of his life.
At ten years old, Drew was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his hip bone. Luckily, the doctors quickly realized they had made a mistake and a week after his original diagnosis, they came to the conclusion that what he actually had was a benign tumor called an ABC tumor. Typically, benign tumors can be removed and don’t cause too much harm. Unfortunately for Drew, this was not the case. His tumor was found to be attached to his pelvis as well as other arteries. Doctors feared that removing this tumor would cause him to bleed to death so instead, he underwent chemical treatment to kill the tumor.
Over the course of two years, Drew underwent nine surgeries as well as three biopsies at the Boston Children’s Hospital and continued to be a patient there for the four years following with monthly check-ups and countless MRI’s.
During this time, Drew was pulled from the one thing that he loved most: sports. Being an athlete had always been a large part of his identity, even at a young age. Not having the ability to participate in athletics as well as questioning whether he would ever make a full recovery and have the potential to play again was extremely difficult for him to comprehend.
As well as missing out on sports, Drew also had to miss a lot of school due to his treatments. Since he was in and out of the hospital, staying caught up on his schoolwork proved to be a challenge for him. All through his years of chemical treatment, the pain would be so bad that he sometimes would not be able to attend school for weeks.
Throughout this period of intense treatment, Drew did not have much to entertain himself. He couldn’t participate in any real physical activity and he didn’t even have school as an option on some days to keep him occupied. Seeing how bored he was becoming, Drew’s mom decided to introduce him to the stock market in an attempt to provide him with a new hobby. While most middle schoolers would rather have movie marathons all day, Drew loved this new activity and by the age of 12 he was researching different stocks and presenting plans to his parents as to why he felt that they would be a good investment for him. If they agreed with his pitch, he would get real money to invest, thus sparking his interest in the business world. This new love for business followed Drew into high school when he realized he had to complete community service hours to graduate.
Drew decided he wanted to volunteer for the Boston Children's Hospital to give back to the place that and given so much to him. After being told that he couldn’t volunteer at the Boston Children’s Hospital because he was too young, Drew decided to set his sights higher. Over the next year, the Maguire family worked to arrange a charity golf tournament to raise money for the Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor Program at the Boston Children’s Hospital to give back to the organization that had given Drew his life back over the past six years.
With the help of his family and the support of the community, the first Drew’s Golf to Give Back charity tournament was held in June of 2014. The fundraiser’s goal was to raise $5,000 that year. Drew surpassed that number by over $10,000. Grateful for the large success of his tournament, Drew continued to run Golf to Give Back for two more years donating a total of about $47,000 to fund cancer research.
Today, Drew has made a full recovery and was cleared to play sports again his freshman year of high school. He put in extra time and practice and was named captain of both his high school varsity baseball and varsity golf teams, one of his proudest accomplishments throughout the recovery process. Despite missing weeks and weeks of school, Drew now holds a 4.03 GPA and has secured a spot in National Honors Society. Thanks to his mom’s introduction to the business world, Drew is also applying to a number of top colleges this fall as an economics major where he hopes to continue to be active and play baseball.
While braving this gruesome process of constantly being in and out of the hospital may have broken the spirits of many young children, Drew Maguire has truly taken the cards that this life has dealt him and ran with them in the best way possible. He turned something ugly and terrifying into something beautiful.
