Smithtown HS East Cancer Survivor Gives Back To Patients

STONY BROOK, NY — Matthew Gandarillas, a senior at Smithtown High School East, recently walked into the Stony Brook Cancer Center and donated more than $1,000 worth of gift cards and toys for children suffering from cancer, the Smithtown School District announced.

Gandarillas, who is a part of the National, Math and Spanish honor societies as well as a member of the varsity soccer team, spearheaded a pediatric cancer drive on his own, because it is an issue very close to him and his family: Gandarillas is a cancer survivor, himself.

When Gandarillas was just 8 months old, his mother, Teresa Gandarillas, felt a lump on his side that turned out to be a malignant tumor on his liver. After undergoing weekly chemotherapy, plus a seven-hour surgery to remove half of his liver and entire gallbladder, Gandarillas was eventually declared cancer-free at the age of 5.

"It took a little bit of time but I was able to succeed in the end," Gandarillas said in a news release.

Gandarillas recently organized a pediatric cancer donation drive to provide toys and funding to help soothe children suffering from cancer.

"I thought about this because I want to give back to the community and doctors, and I want to support the kids who are going through the same thing I was going through. To tell them to keep fighting."