The Marine Corps has produced a video chronicling one man’s journey from recruit to cancer patient to cancer survivor to United States Marine in under 1,000 days.
Lance Cpl. Caleb Eudy’s training began at Parris Island, S.C., in 2016 but was cut short a month later when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Eudy said he didn’t know how to react to the news at first.
“So I just got told I got cancer, you know, like how do you react to that?” he said. “When they say, ‘Hey, you have a deadly disease,’ Do you say thank you? Do you stand there? Stare? Do you cry?”
“I feel like I just need to stay in the Marine Corps,” he explained. “Because the Marine Corps can do a lot of things for me, and I feel like I can do great things in the Marine Corps as well.”
He went back home to Alabama to begin treatment, which his mother said he was determined to finish as soon as possible so he could go back to the place recruits normally can’t wait to leave: boot camp.
After the cancer went into complete remission, Eudy was found fit for duty by a medical board and returned to Parris Island. He completed the Crucible, the final test before becoming a Marine, and is scheduled to graduate April 26 with Charlie Company.
“The past 956 days of my life have been the best days of my life,” Eudy said. “Cancer took away everything, but it gave me everything … because I realize we’re not going to live forever. That we’re going to die one day.”
After being diagnosed with cancer during recruit training, Lance Cpl. Caleb Eudy spent nearly 1,000 days on medical hold.
This week, Eudy completed the Crucible @MCRDPI and finally achieved his dream of becoming a Marine. pic.twitter.com/uBM0zjtZx7
— U.S. Marines (@USMC) April 19, 2019
