Point Pleasant Boro Grad Fought Leukemia, 7 Brain Surgeries

POINT PLEASANT BORO – Amanda Ferraro suffered through and leukemia and seven brain surgeries. But as doctors saved her life, she's helped save others.

Amanda was named "the 2020 Honored hero" for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this year because of her work and determination to get information out about blood cancer.

The honor came after Amanda, a two time AML leukemia survivor as well as a stem cell transplant recipient, started to blog on her webpage http://www.cancerisanasshole.com to show the struggles of every day life with cancer.

Her blog gained attention and she was able to start helping other cancer patients by being a motivational coach to them.

One of them was Tiffany Alcala, who told The Asbury Park Press that she was worried her leukemia had returned. She sought reassurance from Amanda, telling The Press: “If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know where I’d be today ... A lot of people can’t understand what you go through. Knowing I had her to lean on, having someone who can relate, it lifted a thousand pounds off my shoulders.”

Amanda was saluted in her current town of Manalapan, where she was named the "honor hero of Manalapan Township" on Sept. 23. The community announced a town-wide "wear orange day" for Oct. 14.

But when the Point Pleasant Boro mayor saw a news article Amanda, who was raised and grew up in the community and graduated from Point Pleasant Boro High School, he was motivated to honor Amanda and designate October as "leukemia awareness month."

Amanda, 32, has had to suffer through the struggles while also being a mother to her son.

She first started experiencing health issues when she was treated for double pneumonia at birth and then a cyst in her cerebellum when she was 8. In 2017, she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, and after treatment, she relapsed a year later.

At the time, Amanda was diagnosed, her son was 3 years old and "that was the most heartbreaking thing to have gone through for me."

"I had to leave my baby. I was diagnosed May 17th and the day I went home was June 20th. Think about that," she said. "My work was completely turned upside down and if it wasn't for amazing family support and my son's father being there for me, and loving me through this, I don't think I would have been able to make it."

Amanda said it takes a great toll on a person when they are told they have a life-threatening illness.

"I mean your life is at risk of being taken away. It's scary," she said. "And for the people who don't have the best support system, I don't know how you do it because you are way stronger than me."

For anyone wanting to donate or join Team Cancer Crusaders you can use this link: https://pages.lls.org/ltn/cran/MercerCo20/cancercrusaders or https://pages.lls.org/ltn/cran/MercerCo20/aferarro (all proceeds go to the LLS)

This year the Light The Night walk is virtual, so no matter where you are in the world you can join: https://www.lightthenight.org/events/mercer-county