Miguel Coelho was diagnosed with Leukemia in May 2013, after collapsing from brain hemorrhaging. Before diagnosis he was always very active in many sports, his love was soccer where he played on both High School and travel teams. He spent his whole summer going through intense chemotherapy, spinal taps, blood transfusions, all the while working with tutors to not fall back in school. In December, after two weeks of radiation, he was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, requiring a week in the ICU.
In January 2014 he was happy to be back in school part time with his friends and teachers, and slowly started back into soccer. During the summer he developed some knee pains and in the fall would later be diagnosed with Osteonecrosis (bone damage) in both knees – one of the side effects from chemo. This required a bone marrow transplant on both knees in February of 2015, confining him to a wheel chair for 3 months. Luckily with the help of his friends and teachers, he successfully graduated High School in June.
Currently he is enrolled in The College of New Jersey, working towards a Civil Engineering degree. He continues being strong through the maintenance therapy, which should be completed in August 2016, and knee issues until he is able to undergo knee replacement surgery. He is looking forward to an internship over the summer, and completing his last treatment.