By Kayla Hallac, Online Editor-in-Chief

Perfect levels of proteins, a crisp Keto diet, fresh fruits and vegetables: the ideal recipe to beat cancer. 

Sawyer Sanchez, a First Flight alumnus, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (a cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow) two weeks before his junior year of high school. He spent four months getting chemotherapy followed by radiation and a bone marrow transplant.

After fighting cancer, Sawyer turned his life around to focus on nutrition and helping people with circumstances similar to his own.

This journey was life-changing for Sawyer. It influenced his health along with his life goals. Sawyer’s positive attitude throughout his treatment was crucial to take him to the present. 

“When I found out that I was sick, I remember looking over at my parents and I was like, ‘Oh, so I’m a cancer survivor,’ and they kind of laughed,” Sawyer said. “It was never ‘if I get out of the hospital.’ I knew I was a cancer survivor. I knew I was going to get out of the hospital no matter what.”

If Sawyer had not matched with the bone marrow necessary to have the transplant, he wouldn’t be alive today. All he knows about his donor is she is a twelve year old girl.

“I’ve actually been trying to do a bunch of DNA tests and see who she is,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer’s donor wasn’t the only one crucial to his recovery. His family played a huge role in encouragement. Sawyer’s sister, River Sanchez, claimed the hardest part was not being able to see Sawyer when he was sick.

“I was fortunate enough to have a grandma who gave up her life in Albuquerque, New Mexico to come take care of my little sister (Mollie Sanchez) and I, while my parents were with my brother. She was able to drive me to CHKD (Children’s Hospital of King’s Daughters) to visit him,” River said. 

The visits to CHKD were important to River. They allowed her to spend time with her brother who she was used to spending time with 24/7.

“While it was a very difficult time for us, I always tried to stay positive and never wanted him to see me worried or upset because I knew what he was going through was really hard,” River said.

While the journey has been hard for River to watch, moments during Sawyer’s treatment created lasting memories. 

“One night (Mollie) and I went to visit him in the hospital. We brought at least 12 different types of gum and had a funny gum tasting contest. We put on face masks and we also made a plaster mold of our hands together,” River explained. “All the things we would have done at home we just did in the hospital.”

Although cancer has changed Sawyer’s life, he’s made the most of it and has pushed forward toward a meaningful career.

“I think the whole journey I went through shaped who I am today,” Sawyer said. “It steered me towards my professional goals now.”

While in the hospital Sawyer noticed there wasn’t nutritional therapy for each patient. He thought about how important nutrition is to a patient’s recovery life, and came to the conclusion that every patient should have a nutritional plan to go along with their treatment.

This led Sawyer to apply and receive a grant from the Eastern North Carolina Make-A-Wish Foundation to go to University of Kentucky, an out of state school. At this university, Sawyer is currently studying nutritional sciences with plans of attending medical school upon graduation.

As a college student, Sawyer has also recently started up a business called “Wolfpak Health,” a wellness platform inspired by his journey.

“I was lucky enough to do the research that I needed to do on nutrition and implement that to myself when I was in the hospital,” Sawyer said. “I just want to share my experience and everything I’ve learned with other people.”

Wolfpak Health strives to do just this and acts as a first step toward Sawyer’s goals to bring nutrition into hospitals.

“My goal with that is to be able to help anyone that is dealing with any specific health related issues, provide them with nutritional plans, and eventually when I become a doctor one day I want to bring that into the hospital,” Sawyer said.

A big part of this goal comes from Sawyer’s time in the hospital meeting new people. He not only met some of his best friends, but gained encouragement to pursue future goals.

“I think it helped me in a weird way. I saw some of the people who were so sick in the hospital, and I knew so many close people who had passed away even from the same treatment I had,” Sawyer said. “I want to be able to help people now because I saw the effects of nutrition in my treatment, and no one else was doing that, so I want to be sure to share that knowledge.”

Meeting new people was important to the Sanchez family in more ways than one. Getting to know so many different cancer families created lasting relationships. River even met one of her best friends to this day, who had the same cancer as her brother.

Sawyer has learned to look at the positive side of this experience, and after meeting people and gaining knowledge, he has turned his health and life around to be where he is today.

“He’s doing so great now. You’d never realize he had gone through so much,” River said.

Junior Kayla Hallac can be reached at 22hallacka85@daretolearn.org.