Community Holds Benefit Concert for Alpine Teen Diagnosed With Bone Cancer

Samantha Bodger, 16, was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma

The community of Alpine rallied together Friday night for a benefit concert to help a local teenager recently diagnosed with cancer and it was a night the teen said she will never forget.

Samantha Bodger, 16, had a front row seat at Campbell Creek Ranch and a smile on her face as she listened to the music.

“It’s just awesome,” she told NBC 7.

Bodger was a standout soccer goalie and an honor student at Granite Hills High School. In August, she spent a week in the hospital for what she thought was a soccer injury.

“I figured it was a sprained ankle. Twisted or something and wouldn’t go down," she said.

But it wasn't a sprain. Doctors diagnosed the teen with Osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer.

The diagnosis has changed her daily life, but didn't break her spirit.

“Just every day, I wake up. Even if I’m not feeling the best, I’m so lucky. I’m here and appreciate it so much more," she said.

Bodger has already had two rounds of chemotherapy, and on Saturday, her leg will be amputated to stop the cancer from spreading.

Friday's concert was organized by her best friends as a way to raise funds for treatment and give her hope.

“It just lifts my spirit so much," the teen said. “Instead of focusing on 'why' and 'poor me'--that’s going to do nothing except make everyone around me a little less happy. I've been looking at the bigger picture."

Bodger said with the help of a prosthetic leg and support from her many friends known as SamFam, she is planning to get back on her feet.

“I just want to get back on field as soon as possible," she told NBC 7.

Bodger added that, in the future, she is thinking about studying engineering to make prosthetics to help other amputees.

SamFam raised several thousand dollars so far to help fund her treatment. If you would like to help, click here.

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