MIDDLEBURY — Diagnosed with bone cancer at just 13 years old, Middlebury teen, Sam Grewe, lost part of his right leg back in 2011 to stop it from spreading.

Now at 17 years old, he’s reaching higher ground. Sunday he received a hero’s welcome from his family and the community, bringing home a gold medal for the high jump in the World Paralympic Championships in Qatar.

“It was a slow process. There’s a lot of rehab, a lot of obstacles to get over first before I could even get here,” says Grewe.

Getting diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, then losing part of his leg was something hard to swallow for a die-hard athlete.

“Oh man I thought my career was over,” he says.

“He found out on Christmas Eve of his seventh grade year that he had cancer,” says his mom, Michelle Grew. She says her son always played sports. “His favorite sport was always the one he was active in at the time.”

As proud as she is, even she was surprised with her son’s gold medal performance.

“Going into this competition we thought he would hold his own but he went way above and beyond,” she says.

MIchelle says the whole family is grateful for the on-going community support.

“People just want to be a part of the celebration and they were there during the rough times too,” she says.

Grewe agrees. “It’s amazing having all of that support from back home and seeing it on Facebook, seeing it everywhere,” he says.

He says his favorite part of winning is representing the red, white and blue.

“The medal ceremony, being up there on top of the podium and having the national anthem played, everybody standing up and looking at the American flag, it felt really good.”

You can follow Sam Grewe’s journey by liking his Facebook fan page here.

Source: Fox 28