Photo By Lance Cpl. Francisco Abundes | Pfc. Justin Seddon, Platoon 3021, Mike Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, spent...... read more read more
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PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. — A cancer survivor graduates recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, March 2, with Platoon 3021, Mike Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion.
Now that he has earned the title “Marine,” Pfc. Justin Seddon, who spent his early teen years dealing with leukemia, hopes to one day speak to children with cancer and inspire them to continue fighting to beat the disease.
“Every so often you get a kid that you can tell had a rough childhood,” said Staff Sgt. Jesus Villalobos, Seddon’s senior drill instructor. “You can’t really tell what it was, but you can tell he went through some difficult times. He’s one of them.”
Seddon was diagnosed at 13. Throughout his plight, inspirational speakers tried to motivate him, but they had never endured the hardships of cancer.
“I want to go back [to hospitals] and show the kids that nothing’s impossible if you put your mind to it,” the 23-year-old said. “I want to say, ‘I was in your place. I received the chemo, and I know what it’s like – and I became a United States Marine.”
“Some of these kids, all they knew was chemotherapy,” he said. “It forced me into a position of leadership where I knew other kids looked up to me. I did my best to be strong so they could see that everything would be okay.”
Keeping strong was not easy for Sodden. He said there was a couple of times where it was especially difficult, and he felt like giving up.
“They tell you on Friday you have cancer, and on Monday, your whole world changes,” he said. “There were 12 to 14-hour days at the hospital, all chemo, all day. Spinal taps, bone marrow – at one point I was taking 35 pills a day.
“I got dealt a crappy hand of cards,” Sodden continued. “I could either fold or continue playing – but I didn’t want to quit, No one around me was quitting.”
Even though times got hard, Sodden still considers himself fortunate.
“I lost some friends going through chemotherapy, and no matter how hard things get through boot camp, I’m just glad to be here,” he said. “Every time I get down, I think to myself, ‘They’re not even here.’”
Although he had cancer longer than the doctors anticipated, he did not have to endure as many treatments as others around him.
“The whole cancer experience was probably the best thing that ever happened to me,” Sodden said. “At 16 years old, I was able to see what life was like to face death, while other kids were going out partying. I understood I wasn’t like everyone else when it came down to that.”
Now, Sodden is different from his peers once more, but for a different reason. He has become a Marine, in a society where less than 1 percent even enlist in the armed forces.
“I thought after everything I’d been through, and being a little older, I knew something about life and how things were,” Sodden said. “But I’ve learned so much in the past few weeks. It’s been motivating and when a person feels the change inside of them, it’s the craziest feeling. I can’t really describe it.”
Villalobos said Sodden showed drive to train.
“Everything you tell him to do, he does it 110 percent,” he said. “He’s that one recruit that even when he thinks no one is watching, he’s always putting out.”
Sodden said his hardest time in recruit training was the first few days.
“When I first got here, it was definitely a culture shock,” he said. “I was like ‘They hate me.’ Now, I realize it’s just pure dedication, and that just inspires me beyond belief to push through my day. If I’m hurting, so is everyone else.”
Sodden’s actions made his fellow recruits want to follow him, Villalobos said.
“He gives off this leadership vibe by the way he carries himself and how he talks with people – always respectful,” said Pfc. Jordan Carter, a 19-year-old from Charlestown, W. Va.
Sodden really wanted to be a Marine and showed it through his work ethic and the way he cares for other people, Carter said.
“When there’s others struggling [through training], he’s one of the first ones, if not the first one, to give a helping hand and give motivation to the other recruits,” Carter added.
Carter said Sodden’s past serves as a personal inspiration for him.
“That motivates me when I’m tired or feel like I can’t go anymore,” Carter said. “I see him still going on, and I tell myself, ‘He had cancer, and he’s still going, so I have to keep going.’”
Sodden has not left Parris Island and has already begun inspiring people.
“Many people probably thought he wouldn’t be able to do it, especially because of what he went through,” Villalobos said. “He’s proving to people that he can do it and he’s trying to inspire people too. You can overcome any obstacle.”
After completing the School of Infantry, Sodden plans to attend the Basic Reconnaissance Course.
“I hope to be a good Marine and inspire other kids,” he said. “If I go back to the hospital and inspire any of these kids or their parents, and then I get sent overseas or something happens to me, that’s fine by me. As long as I left a mark and inspired one or two kids [that] they can do this.”
| Date Taken: | 03.08.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 03.08.2012 08:33 |
| Story ID: | 84918 |
| Location: | PARRIS ISLAND, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 437 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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