A New Year miracle for sophomore Matthew Lane. Over 100 people raised $7,580 in just 12 days.

Lane’s doctor diagnosed him with bone cancer in his jaw late last year. It appeared he had a tooth growing inside his jaw, but after going to an oral surgeon, Lane soon found out there was also a cancerous mass around the tooth. He had surgery at Children’s Healthcare on Jan. 12, which took 18 hours to complete. It went smoothly, and Lane will have a full recovery. This operation was a one-time occurrence, but it is unknown whether the cancer will come back or not.

“I thought it was swollen because of getting hit on the court, so I only thought something was wrong when the medicine didn’t work. When I found out what it was, I tried not to think about it,” Lane said.

To help the Lane family with all the expenses, the Etowah Tip-off Club created a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $7,500 by late March. Incredibly, they reached their goal within two weeks. Many people within the community donated, ranging from $10 to $1,000. People also helped by cooking meals for the family, and offering to babysit the younger kids.

Lane plays for the junior varsity and varsity basketball teams at Etowah, and on January 13, donations were collected for his family during half time of the varsity boys’ game. E.T Booth Middle School also dedicated its basketball games that night to Lane and collected donations, as well.

“Matthew was a former basketball player for me here at Booth. He is a phenomenal young man, and when I found out what was going on, I felt that I needed to help in some way. I was so impressed how this community and the basketball families at Etowah and Booth rallied around Matthew and his family,” Daniel Barkes, 8th grade boys’ basketball coach, said.

Booth also sold shirts with Lane’s last name on the back to help raise money, selling 250 in just three days. Some students also published a book with the help of their English teacher, Mr. Lemmo, and donated the proceeds to the Lane family.

“[All the support] is so crazy, but I am happy and thankful. I was surprised with the number of people who support me,” Lane said.

Lane faces a long recovery period, at least six months, as doctors reconstructed his jaw using bone from his fibula. He will be doing lots of physical and speech therapy, along with eating only natural, soft organic foods and drinking only alkaline water. A tutor will be coming to his house to help him with the rest of the semester.