After two-year battle with leukemia, Israel Escobedo has victorious return with Segerstrom

Segerstrom’s Israel Escobedo has returned to start this spring football season. (Photo courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone)

Segerstrom High School senior Israel Escobedo is back on the football field, starting at inside linebacker for the Jaguars and enjoying time again with his teammates and coaches during an abbreviated spring season.

But the 18-year-old Escobedo has had an uphill battle after being diagnosed with leukemia before the 2019 season.

One day in August of 2019, Escobedo said he had his usual breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast.

“One morning I started feeling off and every time I would eat it, it would just start coming out,” Escobedo said. “I would throw it (the food) up or I would have to use the restroom. I thought nothing of it.”

Escobedo thought it was a reaction to a medication he was taking that was recommended by a dermatologist for another condition.

“I thought it was just a side effect but it turned out on my last visit to the doctor they found out my blood level was low and they wanted me to go see my primary doctor,” Escobedo said.

After numerous tests which all indicated his blood level was low, Escobedo had further tests. The tests continued to show low blood levels, he said.

After spending one night in the hospital and having more tests, the next morning doctors “told me I had leukemia,” he said. “I was heartbroken because I was working so hard to lead up to my junior year and I had big plans in mind but God had better plans for me.”

Through it all, Escobedo continued to follow the Segerstrom football team during the 2019 season.

“To be honest, it kind of broke my heart,” he said. “The first game I went to, the El Modena game, I went and I broke down in tears because I missed being around there with my brothers playing football every day but now I feel better and it feels good to be out there now.”

Throughout 2019, Escobedo said he went through 14 to 20 rounds of chemotherapy.

“And I did seven or eight rounds of radiation,” he said. “Still to this day, it beats on my body.”

During that time his family, including his late grand-father, kept him motivated.

“My grandpa was diagnosed with prostate cancer and he battled it for eight years and sadly he passed away about five years ago before I got sick,” he said. “I just kept him in my thoughts every time I felt down or something was going wrong. I was down a lot and I wasn’t feeling like myself, I was always energetic. But the chemo and everything brought me down. I was bad.

“I got a lot of love and support from my family (his mother, father, brother Josue and sister Genesis), my friends, my coaches, everyone was there for me when I needed them to be. Without the love and support I got, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. A month after I was diagnosed, I was blessed with a baby niece. So when I was home, she kind of kept me busy a lot playing with her, so I wasn’t alone when I was home.”

But Escobedo got some more tough news and was faced with an even bigger challenge.

“I ended up getting a bone marrow transplant because the chemo and everything I was getting actually wasn’t working for me and the cancer was getting stronger and starting to spread a little more, so they told me I needed a bone marrow transplant,” he said. “To prepare for the bone marrow transplant, it took like two months, and I got my bone marrow transplant on Feb. 14, on Valentine’s Day last year and I was in the hospital for two months, and those two months were probably the worst two months of my life.”

Eventually, he began to turn the corner.

“My sister Genesis was a 100 percent match, so everything went well,” Escobedo said. “She was kind of scared and frightened at the same time but happy. She had no side effects. …… When they told us that the chemo wasn’t working, we were all devastated and heart broken. But they told us that a bone marrow connection could work, and thank God that it did. Right now, I believe I’m in remission. I go back for check-ups once a month.”

Once cleared to play, Escobedo began to prepare for his return to the football field. There were mixed opinions on whether he should return to football, he said.

“My mom still doesn’t want me to play football, my dad is happy for me but my doctor actually was kind of worried for me. He didn’t think I was ready to play football right away,” he said. “He wanted me to wait a year or two to let my body recover.”

But Escobedo was determined to return to the game he loved.

“It was a lot of hard work, because I kind of had to start from scratch,” he said. “I lost all my muscles and my strength, my quickness and my speed so it kind of took some time to even get back to where I am,” he said. “I still don’t feel the same in strength or speed wise as I was before, but we’re still working on that.”

Escobedo has earned the respect of his teammates and coaches at Segerstrom, said Head Coach Joseph Tagaloa.

“Even if one doesn’t know Israel’s story, they would be impressed by how great he is because of his leadership skills and ability to play inside linebacker,” Tagaloa said. “Israel’s resilience and journey over last year and a half make him that much more amazing. One would never know that he missed his entire junior season battling leukemia based on the level he is playing at right now. Israel’s teammates respect his ability to play and model what it means to be a Jaguar football player, so they selected him as a captain.”

Escobedo made his successful return to the football field Thursday night and helped Segerstrom defeat Katella 14-7. He had four tackles in the game.

“Honestly, just being there felt amazing,” he said. “I felt I was at home again. I was named captain and I was just happy. Even if I wasn’t named captain, I would still be happy playing.”

“Israel is one of our starting inside linebackers and played a big role in our defensive effort vs. Katella last week with four solo tackles,” Tagaloa said. “We look to him for motivation and energy on the defensive side of the ball, which carries over onto both special teams and offense. He’s an amazing kid. We are so grateful for his recovery.”

Escobedo said he received tremendous support from Tagaloa and assistant coaches Russell DeMent, the defensive coordinator and offensive line coach and Coach Frank Stephens, former linebacker coach and now the team’s secondary coach.

“Coach Tagaloa and Coach DeMent and Coach Stephens they’ve never left my side ever since I got sick,” Escobedo said. “Coach Tag would come visit me at the hospital or even if I was home, he would visit me and see how I was doing and bring me anything I needed and they’ve always been there for my support.”

The 6-0, 195-pound Escobedo is hoping for a strong finish to the season for the Jaguars, who have two more games left against Garden Grove Friday and Marina on Friday, April 16 at Segerstrom.

“One of my top goals has been defensive player of the year, but just being there on the field and playing with my brothers is just a goal in itself, being able to play football this year,” he said.

Escobedo said he plans to attend community college next year. Escobedo, who kept up with his classes by taking independent studies online during his illness, will graduate from Segerstrom in June, Tagaloa said.

Then, Escobedo will begin to focus on life after Segerstrom.

“I don’t know which community college I want to go to yet but I want to major in nursing and help all the kids that are going to go through the same thing that I went through” he said.

His advice for others facing similar challenges:

“Just keep your head up. Everyone goes through different battles in their lives and just focus on fighting your battles.”

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com