ISU defensive end Mitchell Meyers announced in February 2015 that he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of cancer. Since then, his team, teammates, coaches, friends and family have all stepped up to support the redshirt junior.

But the support has come from everywhere, not just people he knows.

“I just want to start off by saying thank you to everybody,” Meyers said. “Not just the Iowa State fans, but everybody across the country who’s come in contact with me. It’s not just Twitter—they’re sending me letters in the mail. They don’t have to do that.”

Meyers mentioned specifically the influx of messages he has received from Iowa fans and the Hawkeyes’ head coach, Kirk Ferentz, who have all reached out across the lines of rivalry to extend optimism and well-wishes to the Cyclone.

Meyers said all of the support has aided in his fight—keeping up his resolve.

“There was never a time when I was going to crawl into a shell,” Meyers said. “It’s just one of those things that you accept it. It was definitely a shock. You get that shock out of the way [and] a couple days later it really sets in, and you say ‘Okay, well what’s the treatment plan? How do I fix this?”

ISU team doctor Dr. Marc Shulman said on April 23 that together with oncologists, Meyers is figuring out the answer to that very important question. Shulman described Meyers as doing very well to this point and said he expects Meyers to make a full recovery.