Former Penn State cheerleader Paris Shanabrough revealed she has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow.
“Right now, I’m fighting this with everything I have and am undergoing chemotherapy,” Shanabrough, 22, shared about her treatment in a statement posted via Instagram on Tuesday, August 18. “This is going to be a tough road, but I’m incredibly lucky to have the most amazing support system standing beside me every step of the way.”
She continued, “I’m taking this one day at a time, staying strong, and believing in better days ahead. Thank you to everyone who has supported me, prayed for me, checked in on me, and reminded me that l’m never fighting alone.”
Shanabrough graduated from Penn State in June. “Once a Nittany Lion, always a Nittany Lion. Forever a fan,” she wrote via Instagram at the time.
Paris’ twin sister, Brooke, launched a GoFundMe to assist with medical costs in the wake of the diagnosis.
“Just weeks ago, our lives looked completely different,” Brooke wrote. “My sister was a healthy, active 22-year-old who had just graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Throughout college, she was also an athlete and captain of the Penn State cheerleading team. She had spent years working incredibly hard toward her dream of becoming a doctor and was preparing to apply to medical school this summer. Then, completely unexpectedly, everything changed.”
Paris’ sister continued, “Instead of spending this summer preparing for medical school and beginning the next chapter of her life, she is now facing something none of us could have imagined: fighting leukemia.”
Despite the cancer news, Brooke said her sister’s “dream of becoming a doctor has not changed.”
“This diagnosis may have temporarily changed her timeline, but it has not changed the future she has worked so hard for,” Brooke wrote. “She is determined to beat this, recover, return to the life she loves, and continue pursuing a career in medicine as soon as she is able.”
Brooke continued, “Right now, our family’s biggest priority is making sure she can put all of her energy into getting healthy again. Unfortunately, cancer treatment comes with an enormous financial burden on top of everything she is already going through. Between treatment, hospital stays, medications, insurance costs, transportation, meals, time away from work, and the many unexpected expenses that come with leukemia treatment and recovery, those costs can quickly become overwhelming.”
The GoFundMe had raised over $19,000 at the time of publication.
