At 10, she was diagnosed with bone cancer.
But Hayley Arceneaux just became the youngest American to go to space in a historic all-civilian mission ...
But Hayley Arceneaux just became the youngest American to go to space in a historic all-civilian mission ...
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00My disease is called osteosarcoma, and it's a bone cancer.
00:05It's very serious.
00:16My mom was shocked when she found out.
00:18And I was still in shock when I called to tell her the news.
00:21I said, you're not going to believe this, but it's true.
00:23I just got asked to go to space.
00:31I was a healthy 10-year-old before this diagnosis, and I was really active.
00:36I actually had just gotten my black belt in taekwondo.
00:39And I was having knee pain.
00:41They thought it was from the taekwondo, but the pain started getting worse,
00:44and I started limping.
00:46The doctor took an X-ray, and she came in the room with my parents and said,
00:50this is bone cancer.
00:52And we all just burst into tears.
00:55And I just kept saying over and over, I don't want to die.
00:57I don't want to die.
00:58I don't want to die.
00:59I'm trying to lift my leg like my right leg, but I can't do that yet
01:06because my muscle isn't strong enough.
01:09I spent a year undergoing intense chemo and also had surgery that saved my leg
01:14and ultimately saved my life.
01:16I look back, and I think of the good memories.
01:18I was pulling pranks on my doctors and nurses.
01:21I was throwing dance parties and made everyone in the hospital
01:24come watch me and my friend dance.
01:26At the end of my treatment, when my doctor told me I was cancer-free
01:29and I could go home, I cried because I didn't want to leave.
01:57Immediately I said yes, just recognizing how once-in-a-lifetime this opportunity was
02:05and what an incredible fundraiser it would be for St. Jude.
02:08I actually went to NASA the summer before I was diagnosed with cancer.
02:11I mean, every kid looks at that and wants to be an astronaut.
02:14Who doesn't?
02:26[♪ music ♪
02:38What's so exciting about it is we're the first all-civilian mission to space
02:43and just knowing that there's going to be so many that come after us.
02:47Being the first person with a prosthetic body part is really going to help
02:51open space travel to so many more people
02:54because until this mission, you really had to be physically perfect to go to space.
02:57But this mission is changing things, and I'm personally really excited to be part of that.