In one Wyoming family, football has brought a father and son together — and helped beat back the specter of cancer.

On an April Saturday back in 2009, James Harris of Torrington, Wyoming, wasn’t feeling well. He came home from work and went to bed, but pain kept him awake throughout the next day. By early evening, as he later told the Casper Star-Tribune, he said to his kids, “Go get your mom, I think I’m dying.'”

It was Easter Sunday — and the Harris family spent it in the emergency room. Harris’ son Logan waited with his mother and siblings as doctors performed tests.

father-and-son
Logan Harris, standout athlete, with his dad, James Harris. “I play for him,” said the football player. (photo: Huron Daily Tribune)

“They wanted to get a better picture of [his middle section], so they did a CT scan,” Harris told the Star-Tribune. “The doctor came in about two in the morning, and said, ‘Here’s the thing: You’ve got one kidney, and the kidney that you have has a huge mass on it — looks like it’s about to burst at any time.'”

Harris was immediately transported to Denver, Colorado, by ambulance — his family close behind in their own car. “They took half my kidney there,” said Harris.

Hospitals became the norm for the Harris family. For nearly three years, James Harris was in and out, as his cancer kept returning. A year after the initial operation, doctors operated again, as a growth reappeared on the kidney. “They took another half of my kidney there,” he said. A year after that, a mass had formed on his lungs and another surgery was needed. “So they took a part of my lungs,” Harris said. “It’s just been crazy, you know.”

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Young Logan was just 10 years old when his father’s health trials started, but the boy began to take care of his six-year-old brother, Corbin, as their mother, Tara, cared for the 18-month-old Harris twins and the ailing James.

Emergency rooms and doctors became routine in this family’s life.

“The little ones, that’s all they’ve known is hospitals,” James Harris told the Star-Tribune. “I know it was tougher for them and tougher for my wife than what I had to do. I think it’s made them tougher, too. They’ve had to overcome a lot of obstacles. It’s shown them that there’s nothing that can’t be overcome.”

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After Harris’ third operation, his cancer began to stay in remission, and the family rejoiced.

“I play for him,” said the son. “I’ve got to play my hardest to show him I’m there for him.”

Logan Harris had developed an early appreciation of the irreplaceable gift of life. “It makes you realize it can be taken away from you like that. You can’t take it for granted.”

The teen found solace in sports at Torrington High School to help him deal with his father’s illness. And when he visited his dad in the hospital, sports bonded the two even more.

“Sports helped a lot because it was a thing that [my father and I] had in common. We bonded, especially in the winters, watching football. Sundays we were always watching football together. It’s brought us together a lot. We’ve always had football in the family,” Logan Harris continued. “We’ve had a couple of relatives play at the collegiate level. One of them played at the pro level … I always looked up to [them].”

“In the mental health field, we’re well aware of the healing effects of the neurotransmitter oxytocin,” clinical psychologist Shoshana Bennett of Orange County, California, told LifeZette. “It has been found that even small expressions of love and support between family members and friends will stimulate the release of this brain chemical.”

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She said that the American Psychological Association has found that “oxytocin levels increase during social bonding. Expressing care and love with hugs or words of encouragement increases this wonderful chemical which, researchers are finding, have positive effects not only on mental health but physical well-being, too.”

Logan Harris soon became a star himself on the gridiron for the Torrington Trailblazers — creating lanes for running backs, dispensing with blockers, and making opposing quarterbacks vulnerable.

A Star-Tribune Super 25 selection last year, Logan Harris has now “become synonymous with football in eastern Wyoming,” noted the Star-Tribune.

“Just pride — there’s not a feeling like it. I wrestled and played football and I didn’t get that feeling when I was playing,” James Harris said of his son’s football accomplishments. “Watching your kids, watching all their hard work pay off, makes you extremely proud.”

Even throughout illness and emergency, the Harris parents have gone to all of their son’s games. “He’s always been as excited about football as I have,” the son said of his dad. “He’s always at the games, probably more nervous than I am.”

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The University of Wyoming had kept in touch with Logan Harris during his junior year. Coaches sent letters “here and there,” letting him know they were interested enough to invite him to Laramie for football camp, as the Star-Tribune noted. And then came the great day — they made an offer. The son promptly texted his dad with the news.

With his cancer in remission since his lung surgery, James Harris has stayed optimistic — while acknowledging the possibility of a return of his cancer.

“I think I’ve got it beat,” he said. “But with this type of cancer that I had, this renal cell carcinoma, there’s not a cure for it. My oncologist basically said, ‘We don’t know what to do with you.'”

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While faced with his father’s mortality, the football star son has responded with love on and off the field. “I play for him,” he said. “I don’t know how I would be without him here. I’ve got to play my hardest to show him that I’m there to play for [my dad].”

“Experiencing sports together bonded this already close father and son even more,” Bennett said. “Science would support the assumption that James’ oxytocin level stayed pretty high with his continuous love, care, and heartfelt sports connection with Logan. According to science, this probably gave James’ body some real healing.”