“I’m doing great,” said Udeze, the 20th overall draft pick in 2004. “I’m alive.”
He also just passed a critical five-year anniversary.
“July 16, 2008,” said Udeze, referring to the date that he received a bone-marrow transplant from his brother, Thomas Barnes. “They say that puts me into a better percentile of the leukemia coming back again. They say less than 1 percent. I feel blessed.”
A little over four years ago, Udeze traveled to Lewiston, Minn., to be the guest speaker for the Fools Five Road Race, a fundraiser for cancer research. Organizers wanted Udeze to meet this 6-year-old boy who had just been diagnosed.
“Cole had just come from getting a spinal tap and his chemo treatment,” Reps said. “He was in a wheelchair, so Kenechi said he’d push Cole in the race.”