Wayne State College’s Patrick Donnelly has wrestled with more than just opponents during his career here.

Donnelly was diagnosed with testicular cancer during the summer of 2015, and at first, he didn’t know how to respond.

“I was shocked at first, but when the doctor told me that I could get a fake testicle filled of silicon, like a fake breast, I just burst out laughing. I called my dad and he started laughing too,” Donnelly said. “The doctor said it could potentially break if I went back to wrestling, which I knew I would, so I decided not to do that.”

Donnelly found out about his cancer after he had an ultrasound conducted when his testicle felt unusually hard.

“I got to the doctor early, where they caught it before it was really developed. I was really lucky,” Donnelly said.

Donnelly had to endure two rounds of chemotherapy, with each session consisting of one week (Monday through Friday) of seven-hour-long sessions. This would follow with two Tuesdays that took the same amount of hours, before starting the process over again.

“The doctors told me that they have been using the same method of chemotherapy for this type of cancer since the 1970s because it works, so why fix it, you know?” Donnelly said.

“There was a 50/50 chance of the cancer coming back, so that’s why I decided to do the chemo and just get it done with.”

According to Donnelly, the worst part of the treatment was dealing with the Benadryl and saline solution.

“The saline just tasted absolutely terrible and the Benadryl made me really sleepy,” Donnelly said.

His father came up every day from his hometown of Arlington, which is more than an hour-long drive one way, to take him to and from his treatment sessions in Norfolk.

“My family and girlfriend at-the-time, Brooke, were really there for me during my toughest times,” Donnelly said.

Donnelly is no stranger to playing through the pain.

A couple of weeks ago, he dislocated his shoulder during a match and continued to wrestle after shoving it back into place. He went on to win the match.

“I didn’t wrestle as well as I wanted to after that, but it’s whatever,” Donnelly said.

Donnelly said he isn’t worried about the cancer coming back since he completed all his treatment and his check-ups have shown good results across the board.

“I was a little worried during my first couple visits back to the doctor, but after the first few I felt pretty good that it wasn’t coming back,” Donnelly said.

On Nov. 3, 2015, Donnelly was declared officially cancer-free and has enjoyed all the activities in his life like he used to.

He just wrapped up his wrestling season this past weekend with a trip to nationals, finishing with an 8-15 record. Seven of those wins came by pins.