Florida teen swimmer inspires kids fighting cancer

A Florida high school student is using his passion for swimming to raise money and awareness for children fighting cancer, drawing inspiration from his own cancer battle and his brother’s experience.

Ethan Huynh, a 17-year-old cancer survivor from Montverde Academy near Orlando, is using his love of swimming to raise money and awareness for cancer research after overcoming brain cancer.

“How quickly my life changed within those three days was something I still can’t even get over,” Huynh said.

In 2023, Huynh was diagnosed with brain cancer after experiencing severe headaches.

“A lot of the chemo would have me not eating for days on end because of the appetite. There were some times where I was too weak to get out of bed,” he said.

Huynh and his family were no strangers to cancer battles. His diagnosis came just over a year after his younger brother Christian completed treatment for leukemia.

“I have four boys,” said Ethan’s mother, Lien Van.

“I can retrospectively say that I’m probably the world’s luckiest, unlucky mom,” Lien said.

“It sure does feel statistically almost impossible to have gone through this twice and to have two thriving kids at the end of the day.”

With two survival stories in one family, Ethan has been inspired to give back through swimming, a sport he returned to after treatment.

This May, Ethan participated in the Golden Mile Swim Meet in Orlando, raising $32,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. At another recent meet in Orlando with the group Swim Across America, his laps raised an additional $13,000.

“After surviving my treatment, I felt beyond lucky to have made it through it and to continue to thrive afterward. I felt like there was this internal promise that I had to fulfill,” Ethan said.

For his resilience and commitment to helping others, Ethan is recognized as a community champion.

“It is my hope that this story reaches other kids fighting cancer and that they see you. What is your message to them?” Nancy Alvarez asked.

“No matter how hard the battle may seem at first, continue to fight,” Ethan said. “You always have the opportunity to thrive and continue to fight with support of people around you.”

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