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Leukemia takes life of fearless young man Monday afternoon was the last time Nashville disc jockey Joe Elvis would ever play the song for Jeffery Cudworth.Elvis told listeners of 105.9-FM WNRQ that Cudworth, 19, died that day at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. At rush hour Monday, the DJ played Blue Oyster Cult's (Don't Fear) The Reaper one last time for CudworthIt was a theme song of sorts for a leukemia patient who had cheated death time after time and yet did not fear it, Elvis said.''He never did fear the reaper,'' said the DJ, whose real name is Joe King. ''He never did fear death. That's why he liked the song.''Cudworth developed an interest in classic rock after hearing his father listening to it on the radio.Listeners of the station may have heard the teen on the radio over the years. The DJ remembers talking to him on the air for at least two years, and each time Cudworth would request (Don't Fear) The Reaper. Many times he would be calling from Vanderbilt Children's Hospital''He'd say, I'm in Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. I've been here for about three or four weeks. He had prom, he said, 'I'm getting ready for my prom, can you play (Don't Fear) The Reaper The teen didn't fear death even though he had come close enough to touch it more times than doctors could count, his mother said ''We almost lost him several times, and every time we would come close to losing him he would prove doctors wrong, and he would bounce right back,'' Sandra Cudworth said Jeffery Cudworth was first diagnosed with leukemia in 1999. He was 15 and had just gotten his learner's permit. The illness got worse the next year when the boy's doctor told the teen's family that the disease had morphed into a rare, deadlier form of leukemia ''My son looked at the doctor and he said, 'Am I going to die?' '' The doctor told him he probably would if he didn't have a stem-cell transplant ''My son looked at him and said, 'If the dear Lord wants me, I'll go home peacefully. If not, I'll find a donorThe teen had the transplant in Indiana in March 2001. They were afraid he might not survive because he was so weak, but he made it.The teen had the transplant in Indiana in March 2001. They were afraid he might not survive because he was so weak, but he made it.Then he got sick againThe family thought he wouldn't live to graduate from Kenwood High School in Clarksville, but the teen beat the odds once again His immediate survivors include: parents, Sandra and Scott Cudworth, and sisters Leslie and Karla Grace Cudworth, all of ClarksvilleVisitation will be 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at St. Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Clarksville. Services will be 1 p.m. Saturday at the church. McReynolds-Nave & Larson is in charge of services Memorial contributions may be made to the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, Vanderbilt Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Unit.