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SearchTeen Athlete Honored for Courage After Groundbreaking Bone Transplant to Treat Rare Cancer
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Myles Grimmett
Fifteen-year-old Elyria High School basketball player Myles Grimmett is being recognized for his extraordinary perseverance and determination. Nearly a decade after undergoing a pioneering surgery at Cleveland Clinic that used a bone from his leg to reconstruct his arm following bone cancer, Myles will receive the Jim Donovan Courage Award presented by Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine at the 26th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards, presented by Ancora and Minutemen Workforce Solutions, on Feb. 5, 2026, at Rocket Arena.
At age 5, Myles was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer located just below his right shoulder. His medical team at Cleveland Clinic — including orthopaedic surgeon Nathan Mesko, M.D., plastic surgeon Graham Schwarz, M.D., and pediatric oncologist Peter Anderson, M.D. — faced a difficult question: amputate the arm or find a way to save both the limb and its function.
They chose innovation. Using a “free fibula transplant,” the surgeons removed most of Myles’s fibula — a non-weight-bearing bone from his leg — and transplanted it into his arm to replace the diseased portion of bone. The procedure, which preserved blood vessels and nerves, allowed the transplanted bone to grow and function as part of his upper arm.
“The fibula is one of the redundant features of the body, so we can ‘borrow’ it when we need to,” said Dr. Mesko, section head of Orthopaedic Oncology at Cleveland Clinic. “It’s incredible what Myles has been able to do. If you’d asked me when he was 5 what would be possible for him, I couldn’t have imagined this.”
Following months of chemotherapy and a challenging recovery, Myles broke his reconstructed arm in an accident but recovered with resilience and determination. Over time, he adapted by learning to dribble and shoot basketball with his left hand. Today, Myles is a guard on the Elyria High School basketball team and plays for an AAU travel league.
Aside from minor numbness in his left ankle, his leg functions normally, and his right arm continues to grow along with the rest of his body.
Dr. Mesko keeps a drawing that Myles made when he was 5 — depicting the “journey” his fibula made from leg to arm — hanging in his office as a daily reminder of resilience and creativity in medicine. “Kids are incredibly resilient,” Dr. Mesko added. “One of the most rewarding parts of my job is finding creative ways to help them live full, active lives — just like Myles.”
Myles’s story and spirit will be celebrated publicly when he accepts the Jim Donovan Courage Award presented by Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine, which is given annually to an athlete or individual who has demonstrated exceptional bravery and perseverance in the face of adversity.
Tickets are now on sale for the 26th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards presented by Ancora and Minutemen Workforce Solutions. This premier annual fundraisersupports Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and celebrates a year of athletic achievements in Northeast Ohio from high school stars to professional athletes.
The evening will also include Cleveland celebrity emcees and special guest appearances, an exclusive pre-show reception featuring dinner stations, networking, open bar, silent auction, and much more. Following the reception, guests will be seated in the arena for refreshments and a fully produced awards program mirrored on the venue’s big screen. The live awards show will be followed by the After Party presented by Westfield.
To learn more about the 26th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards, visit clevelandsportsawards.com. A digital toolkit is available here.
Greater Cleveland Sports Commission: Nicole Carlone Losi, nlosi@clevelandsports.org
Cleveland Clinic: Grant Passell, passelg@ccf.org
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. Cleveland Clinic is consistently recognized in the U.S. and throughout the world for its expertise and care. Among Cleveland Clinic’s 82,600 employees worldwide are more than 5,786 salaried physicians and researchers, and 20,700 registered nurses and advanced practice providers, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic is a 6,728-bed health system that includes a 173-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 23 hospitals, 280 outpatient facilities, including locations in northeast Ohio; Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2024, there were 15.7 million outpatient encounters, 333,000 hospital admissions and observations, and 320,000 surgeries and procedures throughout Cleveland Clinic’s health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 112 countries. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at x.com/CleClinicNews. News and resources are available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org.
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Since 2000, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (GCSC) is responsible for attracting 270+ sporting events which provide more than $1 billion in economic activity to Northeast Ohio. GCSC serves to measurably improve the economy of Greater Cleveland and enrich the community by attracting, creating, managing and enhancing significant sporting and competitive events. For more information, visit clevelandsports.org.
