INUVIK - It had been more than a year since Brandon Jager could walk the hallways of Samuel Hearne Secondary School with his best bud Dustin Rogers.

So on Friday the 15-year-old stood up in the school's library - in front of Rogers, Rogers' parents, teachers and fellow students - to proclaim how happy he was to be reunited with his pal.

Dustin Rogers, second from left, shows how happy he is to be back with his friends on Friday at Samuel Hearne Secondary School library. From left, Ryan Ballis-Kuzman, Brandon Jager and David Deslauriers. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photos

"I got my bro back," he said.

That's not all Jager had to say but it was the bit that garnered plenty of laughter.

It was part of a lively welcome back celebration for a courageous 15-year-old who came out on the winning end of a year-long battle with bone cancer.

Now Rogers has a message for other people who are in the same situation he was in just months ago.

"Just be strong, you'll make it," he said.

The lunchtime celebration saw staff and students dressed in bright yellow T-shirts that read "Welcome Home Dustin." Many paid tribute to Rogers' enduring spirit and expressed the void they felt while he was away in Edmonton being treated.

Vice-principal Lorne Guy came close to tears addressing Rogers, calling him a survivor who never gave up and never complained.

After the get together, Rogers said in a soft voice that he appreciated the effort the school made to welcome him back.

It was his mother Marilyn who stayed with him throughout his ordeal, especially through the trauma of chemotherapy treatment, which left him sick to his stomach three weeks of the month, he said.

"She always said it's going to be OK; it's going to go by pretty quick. We'll be home in no time,'" said Rogers.

What appeared to Rogers to be a not-so-serious lump on his right shoulder turned out to be potentially fatal. In a matter of weeks he went from a lively teenager to a frail human fighting an often unforgiving disease.

"Sometimes I would think to myself why is this happening to me," he said. "It was pretty scary.

But then I just kept thinking that I would see my friends again and we'd have a lot of fun together - that made me feel better."

At the hospital he befriended some kids his own age who were being treated for even more life-threatening forms of cancer, some of whom weren't as lucky as Rogers.

Not only did he have to endure months of chemotherapy, he also had to go through months of excruciating physiotherapy to restrengthen his arm. For six weeks he wore a gunslinger brace that kept his forearm at a right angle to his body 24 hours a day. After the brace had been removed he still couldn't move his arm for weeks after.

He admits there were scary moments but he learned early on that his disease was treatable. The medical team that attended to him was first rate, he added.

Rogers said the ordeal has made him stronger and he now looks at life differently. But he didn't feel comfortable wading deeper than that.

Now he's focusing on school and getting back in shape.

His friend David Deslauriers, who attended Friday's celebration, said it took him a long time to adjust to Rogers' departure. The pair always hung out and played almost every sport imaginable.

"He's always been a good friend and a good person," said Deslauriers. "I called him every week while he was away to check up on him."

Jager was also more than a little concerned about his buddy, but he said he always knew he would pull through.

"I guess he missed us so much that he had to come back," he said.