Danny Cocke - 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

Karmina Barrales

Karmina Barrales says she named her daughter Natalia Guadalupe because she prayed to the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe to make her a mother if it was meant to be and, if – as an ovarian cancer survivor – she could conceive. Read more

Andre Cote

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

Danny Cocke, center, and his band, Tin Can Notes Oddly, Cocke says he wouldn’t trade his cancer experience for anything. He says it was a gift that taught him not to take life for granted and to love while there still is time.

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.

"For a young adult, it’s just a weird time to be a human being," says Cocke, who adds that moving in with his parents during his cancer treatments was "like a giant summer vacation."

Just prior to his diagnosis of testicular cancer, Cocke had hit a groove in his music career. In fact, it was during a band rehearsal that searing back pain sent him to the emergency room. Within a matter of hours, the attending physician there told him he had what appeared to be cancerous tumors throughout his body. For the next year, Cocke’s world shifted out of the recording studio and into hospitals as he underwent chemotherapy and other cancer treatments. Now 29, he appears to be cancer free.

Oddly, Cocke says he wouldn’t trade his cancer experience for anything. He says it was a gift that taught him not to take life for granted and to love while there still is time.

"It gave me peace with life," he says.

Cocke’s independence came back in time, and he again is playing with a band and composing music for movie trailers. He also works with other cancer patients, using his personal triumphs to pass along hope.