William is
Blood Cancer United

My battle with cancer began at five years old. I am 28 now, and while the disease is gone, the journey has never truly ended.

I am an acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivor. At five, I didn’t know the names of the drugs, but I knew their weight. 

I knew the steroids that changed my body and the spinal taps that took my breath away.

To survive, I escaped. I remember the GameCube in the waiting room at the CHOP in Voorhees. I’d be mid-match in Super Smash Bros. right up until they called my name. Even as the medicine made me woozy, I’d be lost in the lens of Pokémon Snap, focusing on a digital world when my physical one was too much to handle.

I didn't just want to play these games; I dreamed of making my own worlds people could get lost in. But through the chaos of treatment, I buried that creator. I buried the boy who loved art and stories just to keep him safe from the pain.

For 20 years, I lived in the shadow of that trauma. It took being named an "Honored Hero" by Blood Cancer United to force me back into my own history. In my parents' basement, I found a book I’d written in elementary school. I realized then that cancer hadn't just taken my health; it had robbed me of my ability to dream.

I also remembered the "Friday friends" at the Voorhees Center — the kids I’d met before summer camp. I realized my story isn't just mine. 

I tell it for all of them who never got the chance to see who they would become.

Reclaiming my voice changed everything. Since then, I’ve published an Amazon best-selling novel, worked on a video game, launched a magazine, and created documentaries. I am finally the creator I dreamed of being before the world got hard.

Today, I advocate for mental health and trauma research, helping families understand that the "all-clear" is actually the beginning of a new kind of work. I work to ensure no child loses their spark to the system that saves their life.

I am 28 years old. I got married in 2026. Every day I create, I am honoring the boy in that waiting room who just wanted to tell a story.

I found my dream again. Now, I help others find theirs.