When former Ohio State synchronized swimmer Meghan Kinney experienced pain in her knee, she didn’t think it was serious.

On Oct. 5, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, cancer of the bone.

“It was complete shock. It was one of those moments they always say, ‘You never thought this could happen to you,’ it was exactly like that,” Kinney said. “I just felt right away nothing else mattered. I felt like my life was in jeopardy.”

The cancer was found after Kinney had an X-ray on her knee, after a nagging bump had caused her pain. She believed it to be nothing more than a tear in her meniscus.

“I had been training on national team in California for six months and I noticed this pain in my knee.” Kinney said. “I was expecting to hear maybe I needed surgery. … Instead they sat me down and told me they found a tumor.”

Doctors removed the tumor from her knee, and followed up with full body scans to make sure there were no other tumors. They did not find any.

Since the removal of the tumor, Kinney has no cancer in her body, but is going through extensive chemotherapy to ensure the cancer never comes back.

“The only cancerous tumor they found was in my knee,” Kinney said. “I am getting eight more months of chemo to prevent anything in the future, because if it came about in the first place it could come back in a while.”

The surgery caused Kinney to quit swimming and now the chemo is keeping her out of the water.

Kinney said her life is out of her control.

“The most difficult part is feeling not in control of my life; I feel like something’s been taken away from me,” she said.

When word got around to other OSU athletes, the rowing team took charge to help raise money for her. The effort became known as Team Meghan and has been a collective effort of multiple teams across campus to raise money for Kinney.

For more about Meghan Kinney, read Tuesday’s edition of The Lantern.