NEW LONDON, Conn. — Semper Paratus means "always ready," and "always ready for the next mission" is the motto of the United States Coast Guard.
Coast Guard Academy regimental commander Coy Spooner, 21, is in charge of more than 1,000 cadets at the academy and is the senior captain of the wrestling team. But with all of his success, there's a battle beyond what anyone can see.
"I started to notice swollen lymph nodes and wasn't really sure what was going on," said Spooner. "I was going to a lot of doctor's appointments and at the beginning of May. I had a biopsy done on one of my lymph nodes."
Spooner was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin's Lymphoma and the cancer had already spread to his spleen.
"I consider myself to be a healthy individual. It’s pretty uncommon at 21 years old to have cancer," Spooner said.
The diagnosis was his mom, Dionne Spooner's, worst nightmare.
"Swollen lymph nodes in itself is a less than 1% chance of cancer I knew that research but I firmly believe he was in the 99% that wouldn’t have cancer," Dionne Spooner said.
For Coy Spooner, the goal was to beat cancer while continuing his education at the academy.
"From the day I was diagnosed I told myself I would never let it become an excuse in my life to prevent me from living the life I wanted to live," said Coy Spooner.
He immediately started radiation and chemotherapy.
"Coy ran eight miles the next day after his first chemo treatment, and the next time he ran a marathon and rowed a marathon."
Spooner was fighting cancer while continuing to train to serve our country at sea.
"I was doing things like chemotherapy on a Friday and doing a regimental review three hours afterward," Spooner said.
While training to win the NCAA Division III wrestling National Championship this upcoming season, Spooner is currently ranked number two in the nation thanks to the help of his coaches Kevin Bratland and Dylan Foley.
"Just the word itself cancer has a strong connotation and it’s scary for a lot of people," said Bratland.
Now six months after his diagnosis, he beat cancer and is using his story of adversity as a message to inspire others.
"I want to show other people what they’re capable of and I think that there’s a lot of people that don’t necessarily believe in themselves sometimes," Spooner said. "If I can show them I can do all this while going through cancer treatment then I hope that it’s inspiring other people to see that they can achieve more than they think."
Spooner is still on track to graduate in May and set sail as a member of the United States Coast Guard.
"I think when I go out into the Coast Guard I’ll still have that platform to make an impact on other people," said Spooner.
Using the Coast Guard motto, "always ready," Spooner wants to live by those words to show there is nothing he isn't ready for.
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