A Pennsylvania high school football player went to the hospital after a hit. He was diagnosed with leukemia.

A Jeannette football player was diagnosed with leukemia after he was taken to the hospital during a game. 

In the first football game of the season, Dane Simmons took a hit during the first quarter at McKee Stadium on Aug. 28. He was taken off the field on a stretcher and rushed to UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

"When the moment happened, I remember the ball getting snapped, and then just falling," Simmons said. "I don't remember anything after that until the trainers were all above me, carting me off the field."

What started as an injury on the football field led to a diagnosis no one saw coming.   

"We thought it was a neck injury," said Adrian Batts, the athletic director for Jeannette City School District. "They went through all the precautions on the field, and then, from my understanding, once he got through the hospital, whatever testing they do, neck injuries and any of those injuries, they did a blood test, and it was found then, and it was found at the right time with the grace of God."

Tanya Roberts, Simmons' mother, said doctors cleared her son of any injuries but diagnosed him with B-cell leukemia.

"It was crazy, especially knowing I wasn't supposed to be there for leukemia, cancer, at all," Simmons said. "I was just supposed to be there for a football injury. That's it."

"We hate to use the word divine intervention, but you know, if Dane doesn't get hurt, when do we find out that he had this illness?" Batts said.

Simmons has been playing football for six years and has played sports his entire life. During an interview with KDKA-TV on Wednesday, he said something felt off during practices this summer.

"I thought it was just maybe I wasn't completely in shape," he said. "I was just feeling a little tired here and there. But looking back at it, it could have been a sign of what's going on."

Since his diagnosis, he said he's had three chemo treatments and will have to go to Children's Hospital once a week for the next 2 1/2 years.

"The team, they're playing for him every game and practice for him every day," Batts said.

During a practice this week, Simmons surprised his teammates by showing up in the locker room just hours after he was released from the hospital.

"It was amazing," Simmons said. "They've all reached out to me during everything that happened, so being able to go in and surprise them, they didn't know I was coming. So being able to surprise them was good for them to see me and me to see them and just catch up again, like they're all my family, so it was nice seeing them."

Batts said the diagnosis was "devastating" to Simmons' teammates. 

"You never imagine things like that to happen," Batts said. "But the good thing is we found out at the right time."

His teammates plan to wear Simmons' No. 60 on their helmets in support during their next game on Friday.

Simmons is in good spirits and plans to stand with his team on the sidelines during games. He said his focus right now is on his health, with a goal of getting back on the field once he gets cleared by his doctors.

"Right now is just to get through it," he said. "They already know I'm not allowed to play football for six months, so I'm just going to try relaxing, getting through the chemo, getting through the cancer in general, and then hopefully whenever I'm allowed to play again, get back to it."