College grad working for Dolphins received support from team, co-workers after cancer diagnosis
MIAMI - Sometimes a bit of news can change your life.
"When a doctor tells it to you, you just don't really process it. It doesn't feel real. I'm 22, I'm invincible. You feel like you can do just about anything and then it doesn't really settle in what your reality is going to be until you hear people that you care about starting to react to it," said Brady Engel.
Brady Engel had just graduated from college and was ready to start his new job with the Miami Dolphins when he got the news that no one is ever ready to hear. It was December 2020 and he was diagnosed with stage 1B-cell lymphoma.
"I know everyone has in one form or another a connection to cancer, I just didn't realize it was going to be this close to home for me," he said.
Not long after working for the Dolphins, he realized how supportive they were in the fight against cancer, which was a relief for him.
"I remember my co-workers who finished the (Dolphins Challenge Cancer) ride back in 2021 sent a picture after and FaceTimed me with a sign that said 'We Love You, Brady'. I didn't know them. I'd only been in team meetings. It was incredible how quickly I felt like I was a part of the organization, a part of the family," said Engel.
The DCC raises money for Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami which is where Engel got his scans. He's been cancer-free for going on two years now and will be riding again in the DCC the Saturday, February 24th.
"The DCC every year means so much to me because not only do I get to see the actual support come in, it's truly incredible to see the impact the money we raise can have in the community," he said.
Engel stayed positive throughout his diagnosis and chemotherapy. He said getting diagnosed during the COVID pandemic was not easy to handle, but his mom was there with him every step of the way. He said she became his hero.
"My mom did more research on every single drug or cancer and she allowed me to turn my brain off for a bit. I can't even put myself back in the headspace of that time because nothing felt real with what was going on in the world. So it did feel like I was happy to have gone through it at a time like that when the whole world was stopped because mine was getting stopped regardless," he said.
Now Engel and his mother will bike 54 miles together during the event. A full circle moment and a reminder of how far he's come.
"We work for a football team but we do something bigger than football sometimes which is the DCC. It's great to have that feeling of purpose," he said