CELINA, TENN. — “We love Mitchell.”
That phrase has echoed through the pews of Beech Bethany Church of Christ, across group texts and hospital rooms, since 17-year-old Mitchell Boles was diagnosed last summer with a rare, aggressive bone cancer.
Boles, who’s grown up in the Middle Tennessee church, is known for his humor, friendliness and die-hard college football fandom.
“People keep telling me how much they love him,” said Mitchell’s mother, Hanna. “He’s always made people smile.”
Whether it’s the teenagers’ love for fishing or long debates about the rivalry between his Auburn Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide, those close to him say his personality has always set him apart. Boles, who is autistic, often describes his faith in simple terms: “Shine your light, do what’s right.”
Mitchell Boles poses for a picture with his father, Ray, and mother, Hanna, outside the Beech Bethany Church of Christ.
After weeks of discussion with his parents, Boles was baptized in April 2025. Just two months later, life took an abrupt turn as doctors diagnosed him with osteosarcoma.
What followed was a sudden shift into hospital visits, surgeries and chemotherapy treatments that became daily life — but also marked the widening circle of support from the church and the Celina community.
“The outpouring from the local community and church has been unreal,” said Mitchell’s father, Ray Boles. “It’s not just money — it’s the fact that people care and love has been shown.”
‘I couldn’t believe I had cancer’
On June 24, 2025, Mitchell Boles noticed a large bump near his left knee and showed it to his parents. In the days after the discovery, the family scheduled an appointment at the Clay County Family Wellness Center.
An X-ray and follow-up testing led to a diagnosis of osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that typically develops in the legs and arms. Further scans revealed that the cancer had already spread to his lungs. His mother, a nurse, cried when she heard the news.
“I didn’t think too much of it at first,” she told The Christian Chronicle. “Then the doctor told us it was osteosarcoma. I was shocked. I knew treatment wasn’t going to be easy.”
Mitchell Boles and his family worship with the Beech Bethany Church of Christ in Celina.
Mitchell said the reality of the diagnosis began to set in shortly after.
“I couldn’t believe I had cancer,” he said, looking at his mother. “A couple of hours later, I was mad.”
Treatment began with aggressive chemotherapy in July 2025 in an attempt to shrink the cancer in his knee and lungs.
“I couldn’t believe I had cancer. A couple of hours later, I was mad.”
As Mitchell spent time undergoing treatment at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, the effects of the radiation and related medication took a toll on his body. He often remained in the hospital for two to four days at a time, resting for weeks in between treatments, Ray Boles recalls.
In late October, doctors determined that the cancer’s worsening — especially in Mitchell’s knee — required radical resection surgery to remove the affected bone while preserving as much of the leg as possible.
The operation was a success, with metal plates helping to stabilize his knee. After several weeks of recovery, chemotherapy resumed for another two months.
‘Everyone loves Mitchell’
News of Mitchell’s diagnosis quickly reached the Beech Bethany congregation after Ray Boles called minister Kenny Westmoreland, who stood before the church during a Wednesday night service and asked for prayers.
Westmoreland said the church body’s response was immediate. Church members quickly organized a range of events, from a pickleball tournament at Clay County High School to a benefit meal, with proceeds going directly to the Boles family.
The church even dedicated a service to Mitchell, with many members of the congregation wearing T-shirts he designed. The shirts featured Auburn’s navy-and-orange color scheme and the phrase “shine your light, do what’s right,” a nod to his interpretation of Matthew 5:16.
Kenny Westmoreland preaches at the Beech Bethany Church of Christ.
As Mitchell began chemotherapy treatments in Nashville, donations continued to pour in to the point where the family had to decline additional financial contributions, with approximately $20,000 raised, the Beech Bethany minister estimated.
“The outpouring from the local community and church has been unreal,” Hanna Boles said. “We never had to worry about anything through all this.”
What remained constant was the steady presence of prayer from the congregation and the Celina community. That same support included Mitchell’s friends and teachers at Clay County High School, who continued to support him as he missed school for treatment.
“Everybody was stunned and heartbroken. When you hear the ‘C-word’ (cancer), you always think the worst.”
“Everybody was stunned and heartbroken,” said CCHS football coach and teacher Brian Lamb. “When you hear the ‘C-word’ (cancer), you always think the worst.”
Lamb said the reaction within the school spread quickly, with staff and students looking for ways to assist the Boles family because “everyone loves Mitchell.”
At one point during the school year, the Clay County football team presented Mitchell with a poster signed with words of encouragement from the entire team and a personalized Bulldogs jersey, a gesture for the football-loving teen. Alongside the gift, the team made sure to mention him before the pregame meal every Thursday night.
Ray, Mitchell and Hanna Boles pose for a picture with members of the Auburn Tigers football team before a game against the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville.
For Mitchell, the moments of support often intersected with three things he cares deeply about: his faith, his family and his Auburn Tigers.
Through a family friend at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Mitchell and his family secured sideline passes to watch the Tigers take on the Vanderbilt Commodores inside FirstBank Stadium in Nashville — a memory the die-hard Auburn fan says he will never forget.
‘We know God is in control’
But in January 2026 — just 10 days before a scheduled lung surgery — a preceding scan brought devastating news. The cancer in Mitchell’s lungs had grown extensively, with tumors multiplying beyond what doctors could reliably count on imaging. With this discovery, it became evident that chemotherapy was no longer effectively slowing the disease.
Without a realistic chance that treatment would improve his condition, the Boles family and their son made the difficult decision after prayer to stop chemotherapy and cancel the planned surgery.
“I didn’t want to do more chemo because I just wanted to feel better,” Mitchell said.
The back of a navy T-shirt design supporting Mitchell’s fight with cancer, featuring the phrase “shine your light, do what’s right.”
Instead, he focuses on at-home medical treatment, including new medication and preserving the quality of his life. The 5-year survival rate for Mitchell’s stage of osteosarcoma falls to 5-30 percent according to the American Cancer Society.
“My wife’s a nurse, and she knows — and I know — that it’s going to get bad eventually,” Ray Boles said. “We don’t know when, but we know God is in control.”
With options exhausted, the Beech Bethany Church of Christ and the Celina community, which had donated money and been present from the initial diagnosis, surrounded the family with support.
“I don’t care if I die — I know I’ll be in heaven. I got baptized, and my name is written in the Book of Life.”
The same teenager whose face lights up with a smile while reciting decade-old stats about Auburn football speaks with unwavering certainty about his future. While cancer has changed much of Mitchell’s life, it has not shaken his faith.
“I don’t care if I die — I know I’ll be in heaven,” he said. “I got baptized, and my name is written in the Book of Life.”
Mitchell Boles poses with a Clay County Bulldogs football jersey and a poster with words of encouragement from the team.
Today, while still continuing medication slowing the progression of his cancer, Mitchell finds joy in time spent with his family and the church community that has surrounded the Boles with support.
In Celina, it is not uncommon to see a blue shirt with the phrase “shine your light, do what’s right,” a nod to a teenager whose faith and kindness have left a mark on a small community.
EPHRAIM RODENBACH, a sports journalism major at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., is a Christian Chronicle intern. Contact ephraim@christianchronicle.org.
