Community rallying around him through fundraising effort
Terrance Anderson’s battle with cancer was supposed to be over.
The St. Rose 19-year-old battled cancer throughout his senior year of high school, vowing that when the time came, he would be healthy enough to attend graduation with his Destrehan High School classmates. In May of 2023, he did exactly what he set out to do, walking across the stage for his diploma. His cancer went into remission and he was able to ring the bell that year, with hopes that he would be cancer-free from then on.
Anderson said after working to regain his strength, he thought he was back to being able to live his normal day-to-day life and that he had enrolled in college to become a welder. But a trip to the emergency room in 2024 revealed the cancer had spread to his lungs and that his battle had begun anew.
He underwent major lung surgery in November with six centimeters of his lung removed. He estimates it will be at least seven months before he could be fully recovered and able to work again. A GoFundMe page (titled “Supporting Terrance through cancer relapse”) has garnered nearly $4,000 in donations to help offset the resulting financial burden.
“I never expected my whole life to change, but certainly, it did … hopefully, this is the last fight,” Anderson wrote via the fundraising page.
In 2022, Anderson was preparing for basketball season early in his senior year when he suddenly developed pain in his leg when running or jumping.
“Anytime I tried to jog, hop, jump, anything, it hurt. I couldn’t straighten my leg out,” Anderson said. “Thought was, maybe it’s a torn ligament but … not really. There was no way that this was a torn ligament. It couldn’t have been that. It came out of nowhere.”
An MRI uncovered bone lesions, followed by a biopsy. Then came the shocking news that at 17, Anderson was diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
“My mom was crying. So was I, for a moment. But from that day forward, I had to be strong for the both of us,” said Anderson. “It was cancer, and a lot of people might give up in the face of that. I used it as fuel.”
Anderson missed the majority of his senior year as he underwent treatment.
Anderson completed his final year of classes virtually all the while, making his graduation night a reality. He wanted his parents to be able to see him walk across the stage on graduation night.
“I didn’t let cancer stop me,” Anderson said. “I had to push through, just had to fight harder. I knew it would make them happy, and to see them happy made it special.”
