Young Survivors Contest Winners Announced
North Carolina Teen Cancer Survivor Takes $5,000
First Place Prize Judges include Dr. Deepak Chopra, bestselling author Lisa See, and artist Patience Brewster
LOS ANGELES – Amanda Holland, 18, of Southport, North Carolina is this year’s first-place prize winner for the eight annual Andre Sobel Award, an essay contest for young survivors of terminal illnesses, announced the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation.
Holland’s first-place prize – selected from over 125 contenders — was for her essay “Thoughts of a Cancer Cabinet.” Her essay details the frustration and isolation she felt when her friends began to treat her differently after her cancer diagnoses, but also the support she drew from those friends who continued to treat her normally.
Eight other teens earned prizes and received honorable mentions. They include: Jared Muston, Dallas, TX; Pat Dake, Andover, KS; Jaime Bradley, Boyds, MD; Tucker McElhaney, Gilbert, AZ; Stefanie Sacknoff, Poway, CA: Deidre Ann Hare, San Diego, CA: and Raeleen Whitt, Cornona, CA. A selection of their winning essays are posted here. The Andre Sobel Award was inaugurated by Valerie Sobel, President of the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation, on November 16, 2000 at the United Nations in New York. Matt Terry, the first winner of the essay contest, used his award money to start the website CureHodgkins.com, dedicated to providing resources and information to other cancer patients. Matt succumbed to his illness in 2001.
Over the years the essay contest has provided a cathartic outlet for young survivors to express the hopes, fears, and emotions surrounding their diagnoses and treatments. ASRL honors not the medical criterion, but the writer’s declaration as survivor. Past winners have written on topics including the isolation they felt during treatment, their relationships with friends and family, tolerance and the strength they have learned through survival.
“This award celebrates survivors and the courage of those who speak openly about their journey” Ms. Sobel said.
It provides hope to children who are sick now, or will become sick in the future, Ms. Sobel added. She believes that passing forward genuine survival skills “from the mouths of teens” is as powerful as only the truth can be.
The winner of the essay contest may use the award any way he or she wishes; it is intended to let the winner live his or her life in a way that Andre never had a chance to.
The topic of the 2008-2009 essay was “Friendship in the Face of Illness.” The panel of judges selecting the award-winning essays included artist Patience Brewster, Dr. Deepak Chopra, adolescent/teenage psychiatrist Dr. Esteban Fuertes, bestselling author Lisa See, filmmaker Tatiana von Furstenberg, and Andre’s best friend and scholar Keven Schnadig.
The award is presented in the name of Ms. Sobel’s son Andre, who died of a brain tumor at the age of 19. Following Andre’s death, his family out of love and respect founded the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation to help single parents suffering the double crisis of their child’s critical illness and financial despair. Since 2000, the Foundation has provided over $3.7 million in assistance to 9,300 family members.
