Senior who battled cancer set to graduate from Wyoming East High

BECKLEY, W.Va. (WVVA) - Seniors across the area will be throwing up their graduation caps this month, a final hoorah after 13 years of classes. But one Wyoming East senior will be having something more to celebrate -- a victory over a three-year fight with cancer.

At the time of his diagnosis around the age of 15, Hunter Trump loved to build things, whether it was playing with Legos or fixing a problem with a car. His life was just getting started when an emergency trip to the hospital would turn the world as he knew it upside down.

“It was heartbreaking. I never really expected something like that to happen,” said Trump.

What he thought was a bout with the flu turned out to be Leukemia ALL. Instead of classes and fun with friends, his next three years would be filled with chemo, allergic reactions to chemo, followed by more chemo.

His mother, Candace, knew she had to be strong for her son. “It was horrible to sit and watch him and know there was nothing I could do about it.”

At the lowest points in their lives, Trump said the Suicide Jacks Motorcycle Club was their lifeline, raising money for the family and offering shoulders to lean on.

“We’d try to keep him up. We’d find out when he was sick and try to see him, send him text messages. He’s become part of the family, the whole family was, " said Amon ‘Doc’ Stanley.

With that support, Trump eventually got stronger. And after three long years, he takes his last round of chemo next month around the same time as graduation.

As he gets ready to walk across the stage, he is filled with a sense of pride -- a young man who learned at an early age of the fighter that lives within. “You just gotta keep your head up and push through it. Stay strong,” said Trump.

Following graduation, Trump said he hopes to go to school to become an auto diesel mechanic.