HYRUM – Tyler Norton noticed some small bumps on his neck. His doctor told the 16-year-old Hyrum team to watch the bumps and if they changed, the doctor wanted to know. The lumps grew and the Mountain Crest sophomore at-the-time was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and headed to Primary Children’s Hospital for treatments.
Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that starts in the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system helps the immune system get rid of waste and fight infections. It is also called Hodgkin disease or Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The cancer can be treated with chemotherapy or radiation or sometimes both.
In March, just about the time COVID hit, the 15 year-old started his first round of chemotherapy. Tyler had four treatments from March until July.
While going through chemo Tyler bought repaired an sold more than 30 ATV’s. He made enough money to buy more tools, a motorcycle, a truck to restore and a little spending money.
“I think my parents bought them to give me something to do,” he said. “I think we did 30 plus machines over a four-month period.”
He worked six to eight-hour days on the projects.
“Working on them is how I made it through the chemo,” Tyler said. “I feel pretty comfortable working on the engine and mechanical parts.”
Tyler couldn’t be around people, not even friends, Tyler’s father Spencer told Cache Valley Daily.
“He was isolated, couldn’t even see his friends,” he said. “He bought a four-wheeler from a neighbor a few years ago and fixed it up got it running good, drove it around for a couple of years then sold it.”
When he first got the four-wheeler, it ran but not very good, Tyler explained. Then he worked his magic and got the ATV to run good enough. He put it up for sale and it sold.
During his chemo he placed several ads in Salt Lake based online classifieds. He said he was bored and was looking for something to do.
His father bought an old Ford pick-up to be able to bring the machines home where Tyler could work on them.
Spencer said they went all over to get them.
“I would drive to Wyoming, Idaho and all over Utah to pick up four wheelers,” he said. “Sometimes we would buy several at a time already on a trailer.”
Tyler would work on six machines at a time and sometimes up to 10 machines. His father got involved and worked on the cosmetics. Spencer found parts online and made the machines look better. Kimberly, his mother, also got involved and reupholstered the seats.
There were plenty of machines until recently the ATV market began to dry up a little, so he began repairing other people’s machines. Tyler has not slowed down a lick. He has a wrench or pliers pulling part and spraying WD40 all over the place and trying to get someone machine going. He has always got a yard full of machines waiting to be fixed.
Tyler is attending Bridgerland Technical College taking classes in auto mechanics and welding. His goal is to build hotrods someday.