Childhood cancer survivor returns to hospital 20 years on as a nurse
A two-time child cancer survivor has returned to the hospital she spent so much time as a patient, but now as a nurse helping other sick kids fight the disease.
Montana Brown, 24, made her triumphant return to the AFLAC Cancer Centre in Atlanta Georgia, US, last week.
The former patient was just two years old when she was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of childhood cancer of the connective tissue.
She spent a year undergoing chemotherapy there, and had appeared to be in good health through her high school years.
Ms Brown had even taken up competitive gymnastics and cheerleading without realising cancer had struck again at 15 years of age.
"I had just tried out for my high school cheerleading team," Ms Brown told ABC News.
"I actually ran a mile while I had cancer and had no idea.”
She had not noticed symptoms, but said her parents could tell something wasn’t right.
As a teen, Ms Brown visited the hospital weekly for chemotherapy again and radiation and was forced to stop her sports.
She said the staff that showed her so much care and compassion as a child, inspiring her take up oncology nursing when she grew up.
"The love they showed me and my family in our time of need just really helped me… It helped me want to become as kind and as caring and as compassionate as they were for me."
All through her nursing course, she had her heart set on a career in pediatric oncology, Ms Brown told ABC News.
“I don't want to do anything else. I don't want to work anywhere else.”
The nurse said she wanted to inspire hope in children battling cancer as she did, and form an empathetic bond with her patients from her own experiences battling cancer.
"I really wanted to be that person where when I said, 'Hey, I totally understand. This is where I was. This is where I am now',” she said.
