ELLSWORTH — Eighth grader Max Beck has led by example during his years in school, and he is standing tall again as he battles Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare type of cancer found in about 200 Americans a year.

Beck has been nothing but brave since his July diagnosis, taking chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and more in his fight.

“He’s kind of our hero,” Max’s mother Josephine said. “He’s been amazingly brave.”

Josephine said it started when Max felt arm pain while playing his favorite sport, baseball.

“We didn’t think much of it just due to the fact that he’s so active and it could’ve been a ball hitting him or any number of things,” Josephine said.

After the pain lingered, Max was taken to a pediatrician, who was a childhood cancer survivor himself. Beck was thoroughly evaluated and after some bloodwork in the following days, Max was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma. His path includes seven months of chemotherapy with a break in November for a surgery to replace a bone in his arm with a bone in his leg. Then, chemotherapy returns and radiation will take place because the cancer metastasized to his lung. The portion of the lung affected has already been removed.

“I can tell you that I can’t imagine having to go through this without the support,” Josephine said. “On these posts, I will see people saying, ‘Oh, I love that kid.,’ or ‘He’s such a great kid.’ People I don’t even know. It’s just amazing to see how your child has this effect on other people that you’re not even aware of.”

Through the long and taxing health journey, the support has immensely helped the family.

The Ellsworth boys fall baseball team named their team “MAXimum,” additionally shaving their heads to honor Max. Their team uniforms now read “MAXimum,” a uniform that is available at www.brushstrokesartsupply.com/shop/maximum-fundraiser/RXVBZHDSVD2B5DK443OF5UQV with 50% of proceeds going to the family.

After the Ellsworth eighth grade football team got a big win in the team’s season opener, they joined the baseball team and shaved their heads for Max.

“We were inspired by the group of young men who joined together to show their support to their classmate. After helping Max's baseball team create a jersey for their fall ball league, we thought a similar design would be great for an apparel fundraiser sale. The sale would be used for awareness but also to provide the family with some financial support. Many times when families are going through treatments, there are additional hidden costs that are usually not covered by insurance, such as travel to appointments, meals for the family, hotel stays, etc. We are donating 50% of all sales of these two MAXimum’ items to the family to help out as much as we can to help alleviate those extra, unexpected expenses. We are sending Max and his family all the positive vibes and healing thoughts that we can,” Kayleen Jakes of Brush Strokes stated.

Josephine said it is a new feeling for the family to rely on the community for support, but they are forever thankful.

“At the beginning it’s a really odd feeling. You go through your life and aren’t in a situation where you have ever really felt that way,” Josephine said. “As you go along in the journey, you just kind of realize there’s really no way to get through it without it.”

The support hasn’t stopped there, as Max’s GoFundMe at www.gofundme.com/f/support-max-fight-against-ewings-sarcoma?attribution_id=sl:41c8066b-c96d-4a95-affb-9f471b15906b&lang=en_US&ts=1757622995&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_content=amp13_c&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link nears $9,000 as of Sept. 19.

Danny Dunn’s in Ellsworth is also hosting a meat raffle called “Bring Home the Bacon for Max” on Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. to raise money for the family.

“To have people come together and say, ‘We got you.’... It’s just incredible,” Josephine said. “You never think that you’re going to need that. You never feel like you might be that person, but I can tell you one thing, it makes you really think that you’re sure going to do better moving forward for other people.”

Josephine said every time she writes a thank you letter, she is sure to mention their kindness will be passed on. All of the contributions have helped the family focus on being with Max.

“Being able to be with him and spend the time with him to hold his hand and be there through everything has become, obviously, the most important part,” Josephine said.