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‘One UND’ family

Prospective UND student fights off cancer, finds network of support already established at future school

Tyler Larson
Prospective UND student Tyler Larson, from Harvey, N.D., fought off cancer with the help of a friends and family back home and on the UND campus. He has plans to pursue a history degree at UND in the fall.

It was easy for high school senior Tyler Larson to choose UND as his top pick for college next fall.

With family already living in Grand Forks, the Harvey, N.D., native knew he would immediately feel at home. Family connections near campus also yield residual benefits.

“The prospect of free laundry and home-cooked meals is great,” Larson joked. “I think I’ll have a pretty nice setup.”

After a past year that hasn’t given him much for laughter, Larson takes the opportunity to smile when he can. Following months with undiagnosed vision problems, Larson was referred in February to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where he found out he had multifocal central nervous system germ cell tumors, or germinoma. The simple term is brain cancer.

“When we first got the diagnosis, doctors were optimistic,” said Annie Larson, Tyler’s mother. “The type of brain cancer he had is very treatable with a 98 percent cure rate.”

But Larson still had to go through a laundry list of treatments: a craniotomy, stereotactic biopsy, spinal taps, blood and platelet transfusions, chemotherapy and radiation.

Larson maintained a positive attitude from the beginning, something he attributes to his Christian faith and ability to let go.

“I’m not thick-skinned, but I roll with the punches anyway,” said Larson.

But through it all, Larson gained something else he didn’t know he had: another “family” already pulling for him in Grand Forks — a One UND family.

Team Tyler

When former UND football tight end and Harvey High School graduate Tucker Nordby heard about the fundraisers being held and saw all the social media posts about Larson’s cancer battle, he wanted to do something, too, for the young man from his hometown.

Nordby, whose football career was cut short by injuries, is an intern and volunteer coach for the team now. This keeps him close to the players and the game he loves.

Upon learning of Larson’s cancer fight, Nordby asked some of the UND players if they would be willing to take a picture wearing special bracelets in support of Larson.

“I told them about Tyler, and they were intrigued, ”Nordby said. “I sent them a few things (Larson’s mother) posted on Facebook and they were all for it. They’re always willing to help the community with their support.”

Members of UND Football team
Members of the UND football team, including Harvey, N.D. native and volunteer coach Tucker Nordby, posed for a picture while wearing special bracelets in support of Tyler Larson’s cancer fight. Nordby is fourth from the right.

Nordby and eight UND football players took the photo and posted it before the team took off for their second game of the season in Bowling Green, Ohio.

“I thought it was just going to be Tucker with the bracelets, but he went out and also recruited people to support me.” Larson said. “It definitely showed how much he cared.”

Nordby said it’s important to take a take a step back from your life and show support for others.

“It really puts life in perspective,” Nordby said. “When I couldn’t play football anymore, it felt like the end of the world, but seeing what Tyler was going through was incredible.”

Larson finished his treatments, and 196 days after he was diagnosed, he received news that the cancer is cured.

Today, even though Larson continues to work through some of the side effects of the cancer treatment, he’s back in school full time and has plans to start pursuing a history degree at UND in the fall.

And when he does, it’ll be with his One UND family network pulling for him all the way.