Stuck captured the attention of Coventanters in July after he surprised members of his youth group and 5,000 other attendees at CHIC 2006 by appearing at an evening worship service in Knoxville, Tennessee. His illness initially forced him to drop out of his church’s youth contingent that traveled by bus to participate in the CHIC event.
Surgeons removed a tumor from his chest wall on December 4 and believe they removed all of the cancerous tissue, according to his mother, Sherry. He continues to undergo chemotherapy treatments.
Despite often feeling ill from the treatments, Stuck has remained on the honor roll and was named to the National Honor Society in November. “He’s been remarkable,” Sherry says. “He wakes up with a smile on his face. I just attribute that to his faith.”
Covenanters prayed for Zack in July when they read how he nearly missed CHIC because of the cancer that was discovered just three weeks before the event. The osteosarcoma had re-appeared in his lung after nine months of chemotherapy to treat the disease that first appeared in his leg.
When CHIC officials learned Zack would not be able to make the road trip to Knoxville because it would be too arduous, they paid for him to fly to the event. Zack’s fellow youth group members, who had been devastated by the news that he would not accompany them, did not know of the arrangements until he walked onto the Main Stage during an evening worship service.
Zack underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, several days after appearing at CHIC. Doctors thought then that they had removed all of the cancer. Initial reports were favorable, but the cancer returned again in October.
Three rounds of chemotherapy were needed to shrink the tumor before surgeons could operate in December. Zack has since undergone another round and will need at least two more, Sherry says.
