Andy Caress, a swimmer, tennis pro, runner, cyclist, and snow skier employs the endurance of his training to defy all odds in a competition of a lifetime; determined to overcome cancer.

 

The force of drive within him is fast moving; he can hear his breath steadily paced to the beat of his heart. His heart is in perfect accord to his mind that dictates his every action. He is skillful, deliberate, and alert.  He is trained. His hands are pulsating as he moves in perfect harmony with the ball. If his timing is met by precision, and the perfect vibration against willing nylon strings at precisely the right moment, his skillful play could lead to the ultimate victory. This would memorialize all that he has accomplished as an athlete. The sweat intensifies and the sun’s rays tirelessly grab hold of him, until he reaches the final magical confrontation. This could ultimately rank him as #1 in his sport. His legs are strong, durable and full of muscle that are not genetically implied, but earned over a lifetime. He has mastered days of coached cultivation, and calculated repetition to be the best. All 200 pounds of him are in the throws of gravity now. He is captive to his audience and feeling the motions as if he is no longer one with time, but now in the presence of something much greater. His willpower defines his very actions; this warrior is full of heart, bound by determination, and in perpetual speed toward the finish. Hit after hit, swing after swing he will not fail. He has been primed for this breakthrough, he was bred to win, and win he will.

 

This is the sound of Andy Caress’s beating heart. Andy was a determined, young, accomplished magna cum laude college graduate, on the brink of an explosive career at the age of 23. With an unmatched will to become the best at every sport, he hiked, biked, ran triathlons, snow skied, and swam — excelling excelling in all. His special love however, was tennis. Andy, coached by his tennis pro father Bob Caress, grew up in a small town in Glendale, Cincinnati, where he learned the importance of family, compassion, positive stubbornness (his mother admits), and was an overall wonderful kid (his father boasts). He was raised in a loving home, full of memories where football jerseys from the families favorite colleges graced the walls, and sounds of laughter ensued as the competition escalated with a game of ping-pong. It was a picture-perfect beginning for a lifetime of success, hard work, and determination further strengthened by an exemplary family unit.

 

After graduating college, Andy left his hometown to experience his adult life with his dog, Boomer, at his side in Colorado to work as a professional tennis player in Steamboat Springs. Life was on fast-forward, and the bond he shared with his family and close friends was unparalleled. This man with strawberry blonde hair, freckles, a pale complexion and blue eyes set off to win the gold ... until the day it all changed.

 

One day Andy detected a small mole on the back of his neck. Without truly knowing the severity of the case, Andy sought medical help. Unexpectedly becoming one of the newly devastated souls in the estimated 1.6 million yearly reported cancer cases in 2012 by the American Cancer Society — Andy was diagnosed with Melanoma cancer.

 

 

This is when he realized that what he was training for all those years was not just to become a professional athlete; the warrior inside him was being bred to win not just the battle of a championship, but also the battle of his life.

 

Andy returned home where his family remained by his side, as Andy underwent over four surgeries, countless months of radiation, chemotherapy, and rounds of testing that to the everyday human would seem almost impossible for one person to bear. A catheter was inserted into the vein in his arm, which ran into his chest near his heart, so he could receive the drugs and medications. These drugs and treatments were the promise for a new beginning for Andy. The promise that one day soon he could get back to the court. Andy stated, “I know I have a battle ahead of me, but I am ready. My attitude this whole time has been ‘whatever it takes,’ and I am ready to take down this cancer, or as my friend and fellow melanoma warrior, Karrie, calls it, ‘The Beast’.”

 

​

Andy stated, “I know I have a battle ahead
of me, but I am ready. My attitude this
whole time has been ‘whatever it takes,’
and I am ready to take down this cancer, or
as my friend and fellow melanoma warrior,
Karrie, calls it, ‘The Beast’.”

 

​

 

When it all began, days passed as Andy underwent aggressive forms of treatment with the anticipation that one clinical trial may possibly stop the progression of the cancer. After responding to a new trial at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, doctors were unable to detect any cancer other than a spot on his lung so the future looked brighter. However, because it was not fully detected in his first surgery, Andy’s cancer fight was far from over. The first surgery included the removal of 62 lymph nodes from his neck, throat, and shoulder area. This did not however resolve the cancer progressing further into his body. Andy continued through several more surgeries, chemotherapy rounds, and two full brain radiations that were so intense they had to fit him for a face and neck mold to secure him down while they radiated the area. To make matters worse, during the radiation, the sympathetic nervous system was damaged which controls the pupil and the eyelid. This caused a permanent condition called Horner’s Syndrome.

 

For a full year, Andy was now bound to travel to Houston from his hometown of Cincinnati once every three weeks to receive injections by specialists to keep the cancer from returning. His days of being coached in methodical repetition to be the best, was now actively alive in his fight towards a different finish line. His heart still beating strong, his mind was sharply focused on all he must accomplish. He believed, “Cancer is so limited. It cannot cripple love, shatter hope, corrode faith, destroy peace, kill friendship, suppress memories, silence courage, invade the soul, steal eternal life. It cannot conquer the Spirit.’” [Editor’s Note: Upon further research, it was found that this quote is an actual paraphrasing of the original poem, “Cancer is so Limited,” by Robert L. Lynn ©2007.]

 

Destined to shed his proverbial coat of arms, this warrior traded in his hospital gown for some flip flops and tees, and left for Costa Rica to rest his very weary body and equally fatigued mind. Unfortunately, his quests for a slice of adventure were cut short due to unbearable leg pain. He would return home to learn that the cancer had spread to the center of his left femur bone. It was eroding the bone from the center out, and the bone was about two weeks from snapping. The doctors concluded at this time that he had also developed a tumor in his right calf muscle, and a new tumor on the back of his neck. It had invasively spread outside the lymph system to his bones and muscle. Still determined to win this battle, he carried on with bravery and conviction, and underwent another surgery to remove the tumor from the bone and to insert a metal rod followed by more radiation treatments. His sister Courtney said, “He was a 21-year-old kid trying to live his life, and things got in the way.” Andy was now bald, and only 150 pounds but he still stood proud, never allowing his physical changes to affect his quality of life. He experienced some of the most severe symptoms one could endure such as severe weight loss, water gain, nausea, vomiting, loss of saliva, and was now qualified as disabled. However, Andy’s indomitability since a young boy was now guiding him with an unparalleled strength, to live his life in defiance of the pain, and to continue with the happy memories he so longed to return to, regardless of his illness. Andy proclaimed, “I won’t let cancer rule my life.”

​

​

However, Andy’s indomitability since a young boy
was now guiding him with an unparalleled
strength, to live his life in defiance of the pain, and
to continue with the happy memories he so longed
to return to, regardless of his illness. Andy
proclaimed, “I won’t let cancer rule my life.”

​

​

 

A year later Andy received the news the Caress family prayed would never come. Andy was diagnosed with cancer of the brain.

 

His father sadly conveyed, “I remember when we found out that it had passed the brain barrier. It was crushing. The room became a box, and it was the first time I had seen him cry. Thinking back I may be wrong, but I believe those were the only two times I ever saw him cry.” His voice now feeling the hardship, Andy’s father continued, “The only thing he ever said to me was, again not after one of these crushing blows, but in his everyday routine, ‘Dad, I have been dealt a wrong hand.’ That stuck out with me, because it was so obvious for so long, but it was the first time he ever acknowledged it.”

 

Because the cancer had now advanced into the brain, Andy was denied the drug trial, the only thing standing between life and death. His mother remorsefully recounts, “It was hardest when he couldn’t meet the protocol, because of how far the disease had advanced to receive the new drug trial.” She then speaks passionately with the voice of the lawyer she was, “We hope one day the pharmaceutical companies will extend Compassionate Care Allowance for these drugs. It was an unhappy experience, trying to be one family, and go up against the pharmaceutical companies.”

 

In August 4, 2010, holding his mother’s hand, Andy took his last breath. Courageous to the very last beat of his heart. While in the final stages of his life a foundation was born by Andy called Mela Know More, which was later changed to The Andy Caress Melanoma Foundation. This foundation – now run by his sister, Courtney O’Neil with the help of many great volunteers – is actively making a difference in the community and changing the world for the better. Within a couple of months, $10,000.00 was raised for research at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Since Andy lost his life eight days before his 25th birthday, countless people have been educated with large-scale efforts to raise awareness with proceeds to benefit the cause. Because of Andy and his foundation several people have had skin checks done and found melanoma in its earliest form; people who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten a skin check.

 

Andy won after all. His last wish was to make a difference, for people to know his and others’ struggles with melanoma. It was to educate others on how to protect themselves from melanoma. His wish was to fight, and to do so he had to use all he had learned in his training, and so he did become the courageous winner both on and off the court bound by determination, and in perpetual speed to win. He was born a winner, he lived the life of a warrior, and he left all those who knew him standing in his honor to be the champions of their own life. It is a win multiplied by every life he saves.




In the final days of Andy’s life, his family discovered a letter that Andy had written to one of his “Melanoma Warrior” friends. In this letter his family learned of his newfound faith in the Lord. With tears his mother shared this momentous letter with Poetic Couture Magazine that read in his closing statement: “Live strong. Psalm 27:1 The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?” When we asked Andy’s mother what she would say to those who have experienced the loss of a child or loved one she stated, “Find something that was this person’s passion, and grow around that. Honor that person by putting work and effort into an organization, any type of a project that something good will come from it … Something to show that their life wasn’t in vain.” Andy’s father, with a broken heart, had difficulty finding the words to express his loss, but left us with this most powerful statement: “In his death, Andy is touching more people than the average person could ever hope to in their lives. Maybe people will not get this disease, because of the awareness his name brings. That’s a victory for him. That inspired him to go forward. It inspires us. I know from just talking to people day-to-day, so many people are aware of melanoma now and they are doing things to protect their families and their loved ones, and that it is exponentially spreading. How many people can say that they are making a difference in this world? He is.”

 

This was perhaps one of the most memorable conversations filled with laughter, tears, hope, loss, and inspiration from a family that left us in sheer awe. Andy’s sister replied to our last inquiry of what she had learned most from her brother’s experience and without hesitation, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.  Enjoy the good times. Things can be taken away from you without warning.”