Former Student Body President returns to West Point as a survivor

One year out of high school, Alex Werden—athletic, studious and optimistic—was living an active life leading and helping others. Not a lot has changed since.

After graduating from Chapel Hill in 2013, Werden enrolled at the United States Military Academy at West Point. The experience was a new one for Werden.

“It was interesting, very different from what my peers and classmates had gone through— challenging and rewarding all at the same time,” Werden said.

In June 2014, Werden returned to North Carolina on leave. He planned to soon begin an internship at Fort Bragg, a military base in the state. It was during the break that Werden hit a roadblock.

Werden was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma—a type of pediatric cancer of which about 350 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States—on his last day of leave.

“It was a huge shock,” Werden said. “And then it became quickly apparent that some doors have now closed and some doors have now opened.”

After receiving the diagnosis, Werden decided to stay in Chapel Hill to receive treatment at the Division of Pediatric Hematology- Oncology in the University of North Carolina Children’s Hospital. The location allowed him to take courses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) during his treatment.

Werden did not become active in supporting cancer research until October, when he gave a talk about his own story at UNC.

“Before then, it was more like, ‘Wow. Wait a second: I can go to UNC. I can do things that I wasn’t able to do; I can start taking up interests that I was simply not able to do before because of where I was,’” Werden said.

Coming home played a key role in Werden’s recovery.

“It was very rejuvenating— the first day I went on [UNC] campus, everything changed. I was so much happier, my energy level got so much higher. I wanted to get out of the house and get off the couch nally,” Werden said.

Werden emphasized that staying socially active was important to his recovery. Knowing the importance of interacting with peers, he made a point of visiting friends he made while in the hospital.

“It wasn’t a service thing. It was just going to see friends that I made, because I was there all the time and trying to help them through it, too,” Werden said. “I wanted to be there for other people like me.”

Werden was a full-time student at UNC for most of his recovery and participated in cancer awareness work—a workload that the average college student might bemoan was a boon to him.

“That’s what kept me going. If I didn’t do all that other stuff and I didn’t go to school, I wouldn’t be able to get through treatment because that’s what made me happy. That’s what gave me something else to think about outside the hospital,” Werden said.

Werden continued to give talks throughout early 2014 in conjunction with various organizations, including the Be Loud! Sophie Foundation, Relay for Life and the UNC Children’s Hospital Board of Visitors.

“It was almost liberating, finally being able to share with other people and forcing myself to think about things ... I had never really reflected on it throughout the entire year,” he said.

Werden was found to be free of cancerous tumors near the end of 2014. He continued to receive treatment for half a year to get rid of any remaining cancerous cells.

Werden returned to West Point in August 2015. His reintroduction to the academy came with challenges of its own.

“The transition was really hard last semester,” Werden said. “It wasn’t great—it wasn’t the happiest I’ve ever been in my life—but it’s been getting better since then.”

Despite his difficulties, Werden passed all his courses and placed 25th at West Point’s triathlon conference that semester.

Werden’s fight against cancer has in uenced his outlook on life. “It’s made me realize some things about myself, and it’s made me realize that you never know which day is going to be your last,” Werden said. “So, if you spend a single day and you haven’t made a positive impact on others or you haven’t lived your life to the fullest, then that’s a day wasted.”

Werden plans on returning home in April to take part in more cancer awareness talks. In the future, he hopes to enter a profession that will allow him to continue helping cancer patients.

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