Jarrad Keeswood, a young member of the Navajo Nation who suffered from a rare form of muscle cancer, died on Sunday. He was 18.

Keeswood was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma when he was a freshman at Shiprock High School. He was given a 20 percent chance of living but credited his passion for football after the disease went into remission.

The cancer came back, forcing Keeswood to go back into chemotherapy. He remained active in football and wrestling and was an inspiration to his fellow students.

"He was my motivation to be a better person," friend Ishmael Begay told The Farmington Daily Times. "Whenever I was having a bad day I would think of him.

Fellow students told his parents that Keeswood talked them out of committing suicide.

Get the Story:
Shiprock honors 'fighter' Keeswood at vigil (The Farmington Daily Times 3/22)

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