UNF head baseball coach leaned on team during cancer battle

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UNF’s head baseball coach Tim Parenton knows what it means to receive the scariest news of your life and refuse to quit. The coach was diagnosed with throat cancer just a season ago.

When getting to know Parenton, he may mention the story of a doctor’s visit that changed his life, all because of a sore throat that wouldn’t go away.

“He just sat me down and said, ‘Hey man, I’ve seen this a lot, I really think it’s cancer,’” he told Action News Jax.

His doctor referred him to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. There, he would confront an all-too familiar opponent.

“My family has been through this a little bit. My dad died of cancer, and then I had a brother who beat it, and I have sisters who had some scares,” Parenton said.

But, this scare, couldn’t keep him away from what he loved most. He missed just one game last year.

“Every time I walked on the field, I had a little cape on my neck so the sun wouldn’t get to my neck,” Parenton said. "Seven chemo treatments, and 35 radiation treatments. I went Monday through Friday, at 8 o’clock in the morning, so I could be here at practice in the afternoon. And when our team played out of town, I would get on a plane that morning after radiation and go.”

The doctor tasked with saving his life tells us this coach was highly coachable.

“He was the best,” said Russell Smith, head and neck surgical oncologist. “For patients that keep a positive attitude and move forward with a positive outlook on life, it makes a difference.”

It’s an outlook Parenton credits with his most prized victory yet.

“I was told I was clean,” Parento said. “It’s been a long year, but it’s been a gratifying year, to know that I have the people and the support to get through it.”

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