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Montgomery’s Miller went to PGA Tour event thanks to Make-A-Wish Foundation

Mikey Miller of Montgomery has faced and conquered challenges on the golf course since he fell in love with the game at a young age.

Shooting around a 110 as a freshman for the Red Raiders and improving his average to mid-80s as a sophomore, Miller has always been up for a challenge.

Miller, who just turned 18, was faced with the toughest round of his life. However this one wasn’t on the golf course.

Miller, who loves spending his days either on the green or in the woods trapping, was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer that would require months of chemotherapy.

With the trapping season underway, as Miller was setting a trap, he lost his balance and fell into the creek, causing both bruising and swelling to his knee. What he believed to be a simple injury when he went to get it looked at in early December of 2017 turned into something that would change his life forever.

“They decided to get a chest X-ray to see if anything is wrong. I was wondering why they would need a chest X-ray when it was my knee that was bothering me,” Miller said. “They didn’t find anything, but they said there was something unusual about my femur. I remember them pushing down on it and it was the worst pain I had ever felt. Two days later they sent me down to a Geisinger specialist and took X-rays again. They said they found a mass and everything started from there.”

Like a shot out of the sand trap to save par, Miller had an uphill battle ahead of him. If anyone was up for the challenge, it was Miller.

He started his treatment the week of New Year’s Eve in 2017 and received his last treatment in November, 2018.

“I got to play in all my high school golf events and I qualified for districts,” Miller said.

Miller never let his illness get the best of him, he continued to do the things he loved, and refused to let anything stand in his way.

The Montgomery native used each and every day to drive his life into a positive direction, like he does his tee shots on a par 5.

At the peak of Miller’s journey, he was given the opportunity to interview with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“We got an interview last April with the Make-A-Wish team. They are volunteers that don’t get paid; they just want to make kids lives better.” Miller said. “They asked me where the number one place is that I would be interested in going to. It was right around the masters so I told them it would be awesome to go to a PGA Tour event.”

Miller was ultimately selected and given the once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend a PGA Tour event and live out a hole through the prospective of a professional golfer.

“We got a call a week and a half later, ‘Hey what would Mikey think about going to the PGA Tour on the Waste Management Phoenix Open?’ I told them that would be awesome,” Miller said. “We didn’t get any of the flight information until about five days before we flew out. We didn’t know when or where, it all happened really fast but it turned out really well.”

Miller and his family would be flown out to Arizona on January 28. They were placed at hole 16, where Miller would get the chance to partake in just about everything the Phoenix Open participants did.

“The atmosphere was crazy. It is just like what you see on TV,” Miller stated. “Justin Thomas made me putt out his tee shot of 17, that was amazing. I’m used to putting off the greens at White Deer, which everyone knows are slow. I go to putt on PGA Tour greens and I just tap the ball and it goes by the hole 20 feet. I was nervous and my adrenaline was pumping.”

The PGA Tour golfers were just as impressed, if not more, with 18-year-old Miller and one couldn’t blame them.

Even during treatment, Miller was able to continue to play golf and said he shot one of the best rounds of golf while he had treatment.

“The best round of golf that I’ve played was at White Deer on the challenge course, where I shot a 75 off the whites,” Miller said. “I had an infection in my blood and when they released me they said they had to keep giving me treatments. They gave me a needle that I had to keep in and said I could play golf as long as it didn’t pop out. I told them to give me the biggest needle they had and to make it stay in there. It actually helped my swing from over extending. It made me slow down.”

Miller thanked his family, teammates, coaches and most importantly the entire Montgomery community for their support and encouragement when he and his family needed it most.

“All my friends from school, my family, my teachers…. really the entire town of Montgomery helped me get through this tough time,” Miller said. “There is not just one person, they all got me through it and I am grateful. I was getting texts from everyone asking how I was feeling and if I needed anything. The teachers at school were great. I was missing a lot of school and every single time I would come back after treatment they were so cool about it. They had my work for me and gave me the time I needed to complete my assignments.”

Miller, who had created such a strong foundation through the love and support from both his family and community, refused to back down or crack under the pressures of such an abrupt and unfortunate circumstance. He found strength in those around him when he needed it most.

He reported that he is officially cancer free and will be attending Penn College this upcoming fall. He will be majoring in construction management, while also continuing to play the game that he loves, as a member of the Penn College golf team.

After hearing Miller’s story, there is no doubt he can accomplish anything he puts his mind to.

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