FAIRVIEW

Winning Fairview coach in off-court battle with cancer

Fairview Middle Boys Basketball Team winning on court while coach battles cancer off court

Nancy Stephens
The Tennessean

Fairview Middle School Boys Basketball head coach Wil Hyche has an optimistic outlook for 2019 - - for both, his team and his life.

The team recently won the MTAC Southern Division championship, demonstrating persistence and teamwork.

“We have a chance to be one of the best boys’ teams in school history,” stated Hyche, who believes their success has a lot to do with the fact a large part of the group have played together since first grade.”

The Falcons are 13-1 headed into tournament play Jan. 12 at Harpeth Middle against Charlotte Middle. “If we do well, we can continue chasing tournament championships in the area,” said Hyche, who added, “We have to win to advance so time will tell.”

Other tournaments to watch will be at Cheatham Middle Jan. 26 and Sectionals at Harpeth Middle Jan. 28.

Hyche said, “Either way, it’s been a great ride, and we will fight to the very last tick of the clock!” 

Hyche knows that kind of determination firsthand.

In July 2013, Hyche described life as “pretty great.” He had a loving wife, three children, and a great job as an air traffic operations manager at Fort Campbell. The family had just broke ground on a new house in Fairview.

One morning, Hyche had his sons’ friends over to practice basketball. “I recall feeling a little fatigued afterward.” Heading to work, he began to feel worse. Later that night, he developed a pain in his stomach that sent him to the emergency room.

After blood work, a kidney biopsy and a bone marrow biopsy, he was diagnosed with cancer. Multiple myeloma is a cancer in the bone marrow and blood, which falls in the lymphoma and leukemia family.

“I was put on emergency dialysis and began chemotherapy treatments. I was more sick and beat up than I had ever experienced in my life,” said Hyche.

Suddenly, his sense of happiness was tied to the weekly and monthly tests which revealed whether his treatments were working. “I began to wonder would I be on dialysis for the rest of my life? How long would I live? It was overwhelming,” recalled Hyche. 

That's when he realized he had to make a decision. “So much was out of my control, but I needed to realize worrying would not add a day to my life. I had to take control of the only thing I could, my attitude toward living,” said Hyche. 

Always one to put up a good fight, Hyche said, “I just needed to start believing that God was in control and to trust Him. I decided to use the situation to make me stronger rather than worry about the next test results.”

He said he began “living for today and understanding that each day, each moment is a blessing.”

He reflected on his life. “I have been extremely blessed. It all started when my teenage birth parents made the loving choice of putting me up for adoption. I was raised in a home that equipped me to succeed and provided everything a child deserves to face the challenges and opportunities of life,” Hyche said.

After joining the military, he was guided toward air traffic control. “Being an ‘ADHD’ guy, I was unsatisfied and generally unsuccessful in school. While I was given meaningful work, nothing engaged me until my first day in Air Traffic Control school.”

The chaos of aircraft calling, making requests and task of separating and sequencing arriving and departing planes was “such a rush” for Hyche. “I had found exactly what I needed for my wandering mind to easily focus without it being a chore,” said Hyche.

Hyche said he knows he can’t complain about cancer or anything else that comes his way with all his blessings.

A huge blessing to Hyche has been the opportunity to coach Fairview Middle’s boys basketball. “It is a blessing that gives back through the great relationships that you establish with the players and parents. It’s a dream come true for me,” said Hyche.

His attitude remains positive despite having physical attributes taken away, enduring harsh treatments, two stem cell transplants, many days on dialysis, ongoing treatments of chemotherapy to sustain life that comes with unpleasant side effects, and having to retire from a job he dearly loved.

“So much of that would have overwhelmed me had I not been given so many beautiful blessings to prepare me for this journey,” shared Hyche.

With an understanding that we don’t always get relieved from pain and hardships in life, Hyche said, “I believe we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. I know now it’s not how long you live, but how you live that matters.”

Currently in remission, he is required to take chemotherapy to keep the cancer under control. However, Hyche said he is living each day to the fullest.

While his plans off the court are to go down swinging with "no strikeouts watching that ball whiz by,” he and his FMS Falcons are also focused on winning on the court starting with tournament action January 12.