Casey Quinn

If you met Casey Quinn and spent a bit of time talking to him, you might learn that he works in advertising. He loves to travel, bike around Twin Cities lakes, meet new people, hang out with good friends. You might learn that he recently bought a loft near downtown Minneapolis — his first home of his own. You might take note of Casey's humility and humor, his unusual perspective on and passion for life.

Casey's perspective and passion steam from experiences in his teen and young adult years.

"I had to grow up at an early age," says Casey. "I learned not to sweat the small stuff as much and to try to keep the big picture in mind. My experience helps me look past the things that stress out many people. I learned to trust that whatever happens, happens."

Casey's "experiences" were cancer. Two types of cancer at age 17, recurrences at age 19 and 20. He recently marked seven years of being cancer-free. But he wouldn't change his experiences for anything.

"It was devastating, it was awful. I can't imagine much worse things to have gone through," he says. "Having had cancer is part of who I am. It made me who I am today."

Casey was first diagnosed with cancer at 17, when he was a junior in high school. Colon cancer. During surgery at Mayo Clinic to remove the cancerous part of his colon, physicians detected bone cancer (osteosarcoma) in his pelvis.

"When I was told I had bone cancer, after I woke up from surgery for colon cancer, I thought, 'How in the world am I ever going to make it through this?' But you pick yourself up, decide that life is worth the fight and find a way to make it through."

Casey had intensive chemotherapy for seven months. The treatment seemed to work. Then during his freshman year of college, Casey felt a pain in his foot. A biopsy indicated there was a cancerous spot on his right heel.

"I had fought the disease and been healthy for a year. Then the bone cancer came back. It was like a punch in the stomach. It knocked the breath out of me and left me stunned," he says.

Casey's right leg was amputated just below the knee to remove the tumor.

Several months later, another lesion appeared on a bone scan — this time on Casey's jaw. He had radiation therapy to try to slow the spread of the cancer. Physicians had little hope of stopping the spread of his cancer completely.

"I was at the lowest of my lows, and the team of doctors and nurses stepped in to find a way for me to beat this disease," says Casey. "They considered any and all options for my treatment. I'm so grateful for their unfailing dedication to helping patients. These talented doctors gave me a future. Mayo Clinic is the best healthcare center in the world."

Casey credits his network of family and friends with supporting him through his experiences. "When all my hope was gone, my family and friends were there with constant support," he says. "My sister and I were typical fighting siblings before I had cancer. We became close friends through the process. Today, she is my best friend. We know how important it is to be there for each other. Had I never had cancer, who knows if we would have become so close? "

Each night, Casey removes his prosthetic leg before he goes to bed. Each morning, he grabs his leg, hops to the bathroom and gives the leg a good cleaning while he showers. Then he attaches the prosthetic to his leg and heads off to work, just like any other young person making his way in the world. "Don't sweat the small stuff. There are people a lot worse off than I am." At least that's what Casey would say about it.