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Young Ohio State fan names his cancer ‘Michigan’ ... then beats it

Ohio State football fan Grant Reed, left, gets a visit from Buckeyes Coach Urban Meyer at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, in December.
(Reed family / Associated Press)
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A 12-year-old Ohio State fan was diagnosed with cancer 14 months ago and decided to refer to his disease as “Michigan.”

Why would he do such a thing when many Buckeyes fans won’t even refer to the rival school by name?

Simple. He wanted to beat it. And he has.

Grant Reed was released from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus on Friday after receiving a final chemotherapy session. Although he was readmitted over the weekend because of a bacterial infection, the boy is doing “very well,” his father, Troy Reed, said.

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“Our prognosis is very good,” he said. “It shows that he has indeed beat Michigan.”

Since having surgery for 16 1/2 hours in May 2012 to have a brain tumor removed, Grant Reed has undergone radiation and chemotherapy treatments, as well as extensive occupational and speech therapies, all the while attending sixth grade in school.

All the while he was able to watch all of his favorite team’s games, even if he happened to be in the hospital for treatment at the time.

He even received a visit from Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer, who spent about 20 minutes with the young fan at the hospital in December.

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“He was thrilled,” Troy Reed said of his son.

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