“I put 35,000 miles on my car in four or five months,” he said.

And as Blake would drive, he would have his car stereo on, but it wasn’t tuned into his favorite music station or a sports talk debate. Instead, he was riveted to the YouTube channel.

“I’d be listening to different doctors,” Blake recalled Saturday afternoon. ” … Just a lot of healing videos. … Just trying to process the entire thing.”

That “thing” was called “osteosarcoma.”

Jamestown junior Hunter Johnson is averaging 42.3 strokes per nine holes for the Red & Green this spring. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

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In layman’s terms, osteosarcoma means “bone cancer,” a diagnosis Blake’s oldest son, Hunter, received July 7, 2024, which just so happened to be his 17th birthday. Treatment, including chemotherapy, began almost immediately at an Atlanta hospital.

“We thought he hurt his knee playing basketball,” Blake said. ” … It just kind of lingered around longer than normal, you know? … Now we’re pushing a year. It’s just a constant battle.”

Ironically, it was first waged when Hunter — then a second-grader at Fletcher School in Jamestown — was diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma, which was successfully treated at the same hospital in Atlanta. To have cancer return years later, Blake said, “was a nightmare.”

But Hunter, a junior at Jamestown High School, has been determined to clear this latest hurdle again.

“You just have to have a positive mindset and you can get through it,” he said. “You just have to stay strong mentally.”

It certainly showed up for Jamestown’s golf team this spring. For proof, Hunter is averaging 42.3 strokes per nine holes, a full stroke and a half better than he posted last season.

“He’s in the top 10 of our league out of 10 teams,” Red & Green golf coach Joe Salvaggio said. “It really is incredible.”

It’s made even more amazing when you consider Hunter had to endure not only the removal of his entire left knee, but also the chemotherapy treatments, which resulted in hair and weight loss, lack of appetite, nausea and, at times, breathing issues.

“There’s a rod going down into his tibia, a rod going into his femur and a plate kind of over his shin area,” Blake said. “They cut his calf muscle in the back and wrapped it around to the front so some of the tissues have some actual tissue to adhere to for healing. It’s a whole new leg, pretty much.”

Yet, Hunter only has a slight limp.

“He’s not even walking with a brace right now,” Blake said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Added Salvaggio: “For him to receive his treatments, recover and overcome all his physical limitations and still be able to play better this year than last year is remarkable. He had to modify his swing in order to accommodate the limitations of his one leg … and once his port was taken out he was limited to chipping and putting for two weeks. To still be able to compete at the level he did is (something) I’ve never heard of. I’m not saying it hasn’t happened, but I don’t know of anyone who has received that diagnosis, received treatments, had limited rehab and returned to the golf course in such a short time.”

A Section VI Tournament qualifier, Hunter has also played a key role on his team as Jamestown has lost just one match in the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association all spring.

“He’s taking this situation and making something good out of it,” Salvaggio said. “He’s not taking his circumstances and making excuses. He doesn’t want special treatment. He doesn’t want any attention. He’s just moving forward.

“A lot of conversations on the bus (to the golf matches) is how we approach the game mentally. Hunter and his teammates are plenty athletic and they know how to play the game physically, but the mental aspect is so much more important, and his attitude towards his situation has shown that he’s not going to let his circumstances define him. He’s going to push through them.”

Hunter got a head start in clearing his personal obstacles months before he started swinging a club.

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The Jamestown boys basketball team advanced to its second straight New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four in March. Hunter, who was one of the best players on the 2023-24 junior varsity team, was supposed to play a key role on this year’s varsity squad, which also had younger brother, Gavin, on the roster.

Sadly, cancer didn’t allow it.

“Some games it hurt me a lot because I know I could have been a lot of help to them,” Hunter said. “I know they tried their best to do it for me, to win states.”

But victories can be measured in other ways.

Upon completing his treatment in Atlanta, Hunter returned home in February and, ultimately, to school. On that first day back at JHS, Blake took a photo of his two boys walking side by side into the building.

“That got me,” Blake said. “That GOT me. … It was just great to see him getting back to school, being around his peers, his friends, his brother. I’m also proud of Gavin for maintaining his sanity, you know?”

To stay connected to the basketball team, Hunter could also be found on the gym’s baseline on game nights, camera in hand, taking photos that ultimately found their way onto his social media.

“It helped me take my mind off (not being able to play) a little bit,” he said.

Blake, a standout basketball player at JHS, Jamestown Community College and Edinboro University in his younger years, admitted that while he’s done his best to “stay tough,” it “hasn’t been easy,” especially on his trips to and from Atlanta.

“He doesn’t know that I had to pull over because I just couldn’t drive,” he said. “I was just broken down. It still happens to this day.”

Yet, buoyed by the support at home — benefit basketball and baseball games were played last fall — Blake knows he hasn’t had to make the figurative journey alone.

“The entire community stepped up,” he said. “It was uplifting for (Hunter). … “He’s healthy right now and he feels good. That’s all that matters.”

What also matters in this story is how the bond between Blake, Hunter and Gavin has been made stronger in the last 10 months.

For proof, a few weeks ago, Hunter posted the following Facebook tribute to his father, courtesy of a “Share your feelings” tract:

Dad, you are my hero — not because you wore a cape, but because you carried the weight of the world without ever letting it show.

You faced every challenge with quiet courage, gave without asking for anything in return, and loved me in ways I’m only beginning to understand.

You showed me strength, not through words, but through every sacrifice you made and every time you put your family first.

To me, being a hero isn’t about fame or power — it’s about being like you.