Survivor Story
It was
got on the ice for the first time, and later took a
ride on Timothy Goebel’s shoulders across the ice. Nine years later, Amanda
came back for her fourth show, this time as a performer and a cancer survivor.
In 1997,
Amanda was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a fast-growing malignant tumor that
arises from a cell called a “rhabdomyoblast,” which is a primitive muscle cell.
Instead of growing into normal muscle cells like they are supposed to the
rhambdomyoblasts grow out of control.
When
Amanda first went into Children’s Hospital, Andrea , her mother, expected
them to be in and out fairly quickly. But when she went into the room there
were so many doctors there, even the director of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
“[The
Doctor] said that he thought it might be cancer,” Andrea said, “but I just
disregarded him at the time. I never thought that something like that could
happen to us.”
After
the doctors diagnosed Amanda, she underwent weekly treatments for one year.
Since then, Amanda has been off cancer treatment for 9 years, with only one
other major treatment done when she was in first grade for her immune system.
Amanda’s
parents first found out An Evening with Champions while they were at The Jimmy
Fund Clinic.
“My
husband and I are both skating fans so of course we went,” Andrea said.
One of
the reasons Amanda comes back to help with the kid’s skate year after year is
the experience she had with it when she was younger.
“I was
inspired by all of the local skaters there to help the kids,” Amanda said.
“It’s a
good experience for The Jimmy Fund kids and I like to be there to help.”
Amanda
also said that she thinks the Kid’s Skate is a good way to show patients that
they don’t have to be limited by cancer.
“You can
do anything,” Amanda said, “and cancer can’t come in the way of following your
dreams.”
