RICHMOND, Va. — 8-year-old Kasen Diggs is a massive fan of golf. He has his own putting green, a golf cart, and a personal parking space in the driveway drawn with sidewalk chalk.
Golf is his passion, and when he was faced with a cancer diagnosis and seemingly endless tubes and IVs in the hospital, the sport served as a motivator.
"He was just tied to the bed, he wouldn't get out of bed for anything," said Kasen's mother, Claudia. "One of our friends brought up a putting green to his ICU room, and he was like, 'Oh! Okay.' ... immediately, he wanted to get out of the bed and start putting."
In the spring of 2024, Kasen developed a fever. His parents, Claudia and Cory Diggs, initially thought it was a virus. The illness led to blood work, tests, and a shocking chest X-ray.
"She said, it looks like lymphoma," Claudia said. "And at that point, I just remember being like, 'Lymphoma? Like the cancer, lymphoma?' That was exactly my word ... and, she said, 'Yeah, like the cancer.'"
Kasen's parents were in disbelief, even though Cory almost seemed to have had a premonition.
"But I've always been super concerned about him getting cancer. It's really weird, I don't know why. I was just always worried about something happening to him, and I was always checking him for things," Cory said.
As a nurse with experience in adult cancer, Claudia immediately started thinking about the next steps. When further testing determined Kasen did not actually have lymphoma, but rather T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, she was relieved to learn it would be easier to treat in a child.
"He, by the grace of God, was in remission on day 28, which was a miracle in itself," Claudia said.
Kasen Diggs then began a three-and-a-half-year course of treatment, starting with intensive chemotherapy. Doctors completely suppressed his bone marrow to re-teach his body to produce healthy blood cells.
"Every time they knocked his immune system out, his body got weaker and weaker and weaker," Cory said. "So the very last time that they were doing that was when he got super sick."
In February of last year, Kasen experienced a rare complication after taking one particular chemotherapy medicine. It was the toughest part of his battle to date.
"The doctor said, 'If he comes home.' And I was like, wait a minute," Cory said. "Because you don't think about ... you don't live in that space, but that's when it really sunk in that it was serious."
Kasen's strength pulled him through, and his treatment continues.
"He's doing really well now right now. He's transitioning back into school. He's making friends. He's very resilient," Claudia said.
The family was chosen to be the Mission Honoree Family at this year's American Cancer Society Richmond Golf Classic. Money raised at the event will support other children like Kasen and help search for new lifesaving treatments.
"His oral chemo medication now that he takes daily was FDA approved in 1953, and that to me is insane that it's been 73 years and there hasn't been a newer medication that has come out that has less side effects that are life altering for him," Claudia said.
Kasen will be out on the course for the event, loving every minute of it.
"You're starting to see the joy ... you're starting to see that joy in his face," Cory said.
"Taking part in these events, and being able to actually play on the golf course and not just ride around or not just watch, but actually be present and help with the putting and just be outside," Claudia said.
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