By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The community rallied to support a Thomas More Prep-Marian junior who is battling cancer for a second time.
Sophia Linenberger, a TMP junior, was seen off to treatment Tuesday by both her TMP classmates and the Fort Hays State University football team.
Sophia was diagnosed in January 2019 with a rare cancer, Ewing's sarcoma. She spent much of last year going back and forth to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City for treatment, including two surgeries to her spine.
Sophia was told was she was in remission for her cancer last fall, but the cancer appeared again in a recent exam.
Tiger football coach Chris Brown organized the send-off at noon Tuesday in front of Lewis Field before Sophia left for Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., for chemotherapy.
The TMP send-off was was arranged by teacher and softball coach Melissa Schoepf and conducted at TMP's Victory Lane.
"Coach Brown holds a very special place in my heart along with his team," said Sophia's mother, Jenny, in a text. "They have been and continue to support Sophia. Bless them all. The football players continue to wear armbands, (and that) means so much to Sophia and our family.
"I thank all that continue to pray and support Sophia," she said. "It is nice to have such a caring community."
