When we were about to land, I decided to pull up the window shade for the first time since we had taken off. The glare of the morning light lit up the cabin as my eyes adjusted to the new landscape. I remember the mountains with their snow-peaked tops and the blanket of green trees wrapping around them, so tall that their peaks touched the clouds. I had never seen anything like that until I pulled up that window shade. It seemed like an entirely different world from the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. I’ve been to Switzerland twice and got to explore the Swiss Alps, see cows wearing bells, and eat some of the best food I’ve ever had.
Besides traveling around the world, I have met some pretty neat people. While I was in the hospital, my dad always told me he knew that I was going to meet the president someday. My mom would tell him to stop telling me that, but he seemed determined, like he somehow saw it happening. In 2015, my dad received a call from an unknown number while he was working in his bucket truck. The caller explained that President Obama mentioned me in his Precision Medicine Initiative, his campaign to promote cures like mine that individually tailor the genetics, environment, and lives of people who get sick. He wanted me to be there for his next speech! I think my dad almost dropped his phone out of his hand. A few weeks later, I was able to meet President Obama. He even signed my school excuse slip so the teachers would not doubt the reason I was absent. It was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget.
A year later, Sean Parker, a Silicon Valley investor, was inspired by the death of a close friend to start a cancer immunotherapy foundation, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. He invited my family and me to come to a fund-raiser at his home in Beverly Hills. There, I met people like Katy Perry, Bradley Cooper, and Lady Gaga. Usually, my dad would tell my entire story and let people meet and talk to me after, but that night I had my first small speaking part. I was nervous to speak in front of such a large crowd, especially one filled with celebrities, but I was determined to do just as well as my dad did during his speeches. After saying a few words onstage and eating a good meal, Lady Gaga came out onto the stage and began singing “La Vie en Rose,” the same song she later sang in A Star Is Born. While she was singing, my dad pointed down at me and she pulled me up onstage and sang to me in front of the crowd. It felt like a dream. I watched her twirl her scarf around onstage and dance next to the trumpet player as the crowd swayed and cheered her on.
Another gala that we attended was for TIME magazine in 2018. Dr. June was in the top 100 most influential people of the year, and I got to write his tribute. I explained in a few short sentences that he was my hero and had saved my family. At the gala, I was able to meet Millie Bobby Brown and Shawn Mendes and I shook hands with J.Lo. The night seemed like a dream, and it was a remarkable experience.
When I was in the hospital, I found a love for art. I would paint and do crafts to decorate the dull walls of my hospital room, and I never stopped. I still love art, but I’ve also found a passion for film. Throughout all of our interviews and short films, I’ve always been interested in what happens behind the scenes. My love for film became stronger when Steven Spielberg’s team reached out and wanted me to be in his DreamWorks short film about innovative ideas and inventions in 2019. He ended up including my one-through-six-year “cancer free” photos that my mom takes every year on the anniversary of the day the doctors declared me free of the disease.
The film premiered in the Comcast building in Philadelphia on a screen in a large spherical theater specially built just for it. While I was there, I was able to meet Mr. Spielberg and explain my new passion for film. A few months later, he let me spend a day on set with him so I could see what happened behind the scenes. I got to see the actors in action for the remake of West Side Story. The sets were located in a large building that was filled with people. We toured multiple sets that were condensed next to each other, and there was even an entire store that was filled with objects inspired by actual goods from the 1960s. One thing that really interested me was how many people are required to make one movie. There were at least a couple hundred people just in the building working on it, compared to the usual crew of five that came when someone interviewed us at home. It was astounding to see Mr. Spielberg in his working environment. While on set, Mr. Spielberg actually sent a video of him and me together to President Obama on his phone. That was definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life.
When we saw the impact my story had on other people, my family wanted to make a bigger difference. My parents and I created the Emily Whitehead Foundation, which raises money for pediatric cancer patients. We’ve raised over a million dollars and hope to raise more to help families find less-toxic treatments with immunotherapy
