Ron Rivera of the Washington Football Team Cancer Free

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Coach Ron Rivera of the Washington Football Team was declared cancer-free after a check on Thursday.

Rivera, who announced on Aug. 20 that he had squamous cell cancer, tweeted Thursday thanks for the support he received during his treatment and recovery.

“Thank you everyone for your prayers, letters, texts and notes of encouragement and support. It really made a difference in my treatment and recovery! #RiveraStrong @WashingtonNFL,” he wrote.

That social media post came after both his wife, Stephanie, and daughter, Courtney, took to social media earlier Thursday to announce that Rivera had beaten cancer.

“Prayers have been answered. Thank you to all the doctors and nurses who coached @RiverboatRonHC and me and gave us the winning game plan to beat cancer. The PET scan said it all, cancer, you lost this battle! # RiveraStrong, ”Stephanie Rivera tweeted.

Courtney, who works as a producer for Washington’s social media, added: “I just got off the phone with mum and dad who are leaving the hospital. @RiverboatRonHC is officially cancer free !!!”

Ron Rivera had to undergo seven weeks of treatment for the cancer throughout the season, including three rounds of chemotherapy and proton therapy five days a week.

He ended his treatment on October 26. That day, a video captured the moment he walked down the hallway of the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, flanked by cheering medical staff – all dressed in black “Rivera Strong” T-shirts – culminating in the ringing of a bell at the end to point out.

Although his prognosis was good from the start, the treatments took their toll. He had to use a golf cart during training and his energy level dropped. But he only missed three practice sessions and never missed a game, although he admitted that he was about to retire a week earlier in the season. But he persisted.

He had to adjust his daily routine. He took naps all day, for example after video conferences with journalists. His wife or daughter brought him home in the late afternoon or early evening when fatigue overwhelmed him.

“Sometimes you get nauseous,” he said in October. Sometimes your balance gets messed up, almost a feeling of dizziness. And then the nausea. It hits you anytime, anywhere. But the fatigue, going out to practice it, limited me, and that bothers me because I can’t coach the way I coach. “

Rivera, 59, lost 36 pounds and at one point weighed 232 – six pounds under his playing weight with the Chicago Bears in the 1980s.

“I was amazed. Usually our patients stop working halfway through,” said Dr. John Deeken, the oncologist and president of the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, in November to ESPN. “Most of our patients have to be hospitalized almost towards the end of their treatment because there are so many complications.”

Rivera and Washington were rewarded when it won the NFC East. Washington has won five of the last seven games to finish 7-9 before losing to Tampa Bay in the wildcard round of the playoffs. Players throughout the season said watching Rivera against cancer helped inspire them. The coaches said it made a difference.

“This team, looking at him, understood when he said that we were going to have opportunities and that we were going to win and that we were going to change the culture; they saw it firsthand because they saw what he was going to go through,” said Assistant. defensive back coach Richard Rodgers in December. “He stayed consistent in what he wanted to do.”

Rivera has said he wants to become an advocate for affordable health care. His brother Mickey died of pancreatic cancer in 2015.

“After you go through it and see how expensive it is… you think, ‘Gosh, how can people afford this who aren’t in the situation or the position I’m in?’” He said in November. “That really helped shape my views. I said and thought to myself, we need some kind of affordable care in the United States for everyone.”

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