Heroes are portrayed in comic books as the ones who wear capes, have supernatural powers and save the world one fight at a time. As much as the fiction sounds cooler than the reality, there are heroes in this world that don’t get the recognition they deserve.
One hero that I have gotten to know is Kelly Campos. Kelly, 21, did not have the easiest high school experience. She had to overcome years of bullying and trauma that let her think that nothing would get better for her. That wasn’t until she met the love of her life, Anthony Astacio.
The start of their relationship wasn’t one straight out of a romance movie. Anthony had a girlfriend before and was still hung up on her after they went their separate ways. This just proved to Kelly that things would never look up for her, or so she thought. After he thought long and hard about their relationship, he decided to take things to the next level.
They began their relationship in 2015 and have been happily in love ever since. Unfortunately, it has not been sunshine and rainbows the whole time. In 2014, Anthony was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which is a type of cancer that turns white blood cells into cancer. This means that they respond to treatment differently than if they were regular cells.
The road to recovery for Anthony had been long, but then found happiness with Kelly. In 2015, the cancer came back and that was when Kelly faced the worst fight of her life. She had been so happy with Anthony and just in a blink it could have been taken away by this disease. She knew she had to stay strong for the both of them.
After months of him being in the hospital, he was officially back in remission. That was the moment in time that Kelly knew that she could breathe again. It was a long and whining road that she had to face but it was all worth it in the end. Not many people would stay with someone after find out they have a life-threatening illness, but when you find that special someone, anything is possible in love. In my eyes, Kelly is a hero because she was able to save a life by being that support system that he needed through it all.