Chris Banyas

Life Editor

Fighting a life threatening illness is something most children never have to worry about, and something no parent would ever want to be faced with.

Yadira Gil, an 18-year-old Idaho State University student, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006,when she was 12 years old.

Born in Mexico, Gil moved with her family to Kalispell, Mont., where she lived when she began to experience health issues.

“I got really sick. We thought it was the flu,” said Gil. “I started getting a terrible cough and my feet and my hands were getting completely swollen. I couldn’t wear shoes anymore.”

Gil’s parents took her to the emergency room, where she was officially diagnosed with leukemia.

“When you’re a kid you don’t know the meaning of that. You just know it’s something really scary, because it’s the word cancer,” said Gil.

“Neither my parents or I knew what was going to come but it was terrifying,” she said.

Over the next nine months, Gil underwent treatment in Spokane at the Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital, where Gil did a round of chemotherapy at least once a month.

“All of my white blood cells and my red blood cells and my platelets would just go down to zero, killing everything. When everything was back up again, I’d have another round of chemotherapy.”

The constant presence and support of Gil’s parents made a huge difference in the overall experience.

“My parents were always there, just helping me out with anything. You are very, very emotional and sad,” said Gil. “You don’t know what’s going to happen, if you’re going to live. My parents were always there cheering me forward and they never left me.”

Volunteers and members of the hospital staff also helped to make the experience more bearable for Gil and the other children.

“There was this lady who would help us make little gift cards, and there was this other one who would come and sing to us,” said Gil.

“We also had the opportunity to play Guitar Hero. Some of the nurses would play with us and play hide-and-seek every now and then. The nurses were just too nice,” she said.

After roughly nine months of treatment, Gil was given the news she had been hoping to hear since her diagnosis.

“All I remember is that I started crying and couldn’t stop,” said Gil. “It’s a feeling that you get a second chance at life and to be normal again, to grow your hair back, to enjoy life like other children do.”

“Right now I’m just going for checkups,” said Gil. “After you’ve had cancer, you have a higher risk of getting different cancer.”

Recently, Gil participated in the Make-A-Wish program.

Her wish was to be able to continue on with her college education.

“They took me for a campus tour of ISU in Pocatello and that’s where everything happened,” said Gil. “The pharmacy program helped me and raised tons of money.”

The Spaghetti Feed, held by the ISU College of Pharmacy students, took place on Feb. 28.

Gil is the first person from her family to attend college.

While she doesn’t know exactly what she will study, she has an idea.

“I want to do something to help children. I feel that the way that I was helped both in the hospital and financially, I want to also help children in the same way,” said Gil.