Kirollos Gendi - Portrait of an AYA Cancer Survivor

AYA Cancer Survivors

Kirollos Gendi

As a child, Kirollos "Cookie" Gendi thought of himself as "sporty," a kid who could play soccer, basketball and run around with his siblings. But when he was diagnosed with stage 1 Ewing’s sarcoma at age 9, his self-perception changed, and he adapted. Read more

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Andre Cote, 27, says his cancer diagnosis at 22 may have stunned his doctors as much as it did him. "Doctors don’t want to believe that someone as young as I was has cancer," says Cote. Read more

Lisa Ann Marie Stamps

Lisa Ann Marie Stamps was 36 and home from her honeymoon just a few weeks when she was diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer. A former beauty queen, hula dancer and martial artist, the diagnosis slapped Stamps doubly hard because she has always taken impeccable care of her body. Read more

Danny Cocke

At age 22, Danny Cocke was reveling in the newfound independence of young adulthood when cancer sent him back home into the fold of his family, and into an awkward period of dependence. Read more

Left to right, front row: Kirollos "Cookie" Gendi, Sarah Wenstrand, Geoffrey W. Krieger, Liz Salmi. Back row: Azadeh Afkhami, Cheryl Johnson with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Cancer-free now for more than a decade, Cookie says the illness still shapes his life, pushing him to give back to others and cherish the people around him.

"I picked up a pair of sticks and I began to drum," he says.

Gendi, now 22, endured months of chemotherapy after his diagnosis, as well as the removal of part of his leg and the insertion of a metal rod in his shin. After his treatment, his newfound "sport" of drumming in his junior high and high school bands helped define who he is and helped him build a new sense of community.

Cancer-free now for more than a decade, Cookie says the illness still shapes his life, pushing him to give back to others and cherish the people around him.

"As a young adult, I see a lot of other students who don’t put life in perspective," says Gendi. "When you come that close to death, you see family and friends come first."

A senior at UC Davis, Gendi is active in the local chapter of Colleges against Cancer and serves on the AYA Cancer Advisory Board at UC Davis. Recently, he spoke at a cancer fundraising Relay for Life in Davis.

"I like to go and speak at relays so people can know it’s possible to go through this treatment and that they’re not alone," says Gendi. "They see me, and they see others, and it’s kind of reassuring."

Gendi had to eventually drop drumming too, due to leg pain, but takes comfort in the fact that his younger brother picked up the drums. Cancer also pushed him to narrow his career focus. He now wants to go to medical school and give back to others the way doctors gave back to him.