From Fighting In Iraq To Fighting Cancer, Soldier Faces New Enemy At Home
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Soldiers risk their lives serving our country overseas. Now, one Minnesota soldier is taking on a new enemy here at home.
Twenty-three-year-old Zach Ewing of Blaine was serving a second tour overseas in Iraq.
But while there, a health problem he'd been having took a turn for the worse.
"Probably more toward the end of high school, I started to really get the urge to become a soldier, I guess you could say," Ewing said.
Ewing didn't grow up dreaming of becoming a soldier. But when it happened, he knew he made the right decision. As a cavalry scout, his job is to find the enemy and report where they are.
"Long hours behind the wheel," Ewing said, "and the stress of not knowing what you are going to run over that day."
In February 2013, Zach came back from his first tour in Afghanistan.
"It was the happiest day of my life," said his father, Mark Berry. "It was good to see him back for sure."
But it was during his time home that Ewing noticed his right hand looked different. A bump had developed between his thumb and index finger.
"It was just a little cyst, I assumed," Ewing said. "A little bump on my hand. I had some medics touch it, look at it, they felt the same thing. I wasn't too worried."
But by the time Ewing deployed for his second tour in October 2014 -- this time to Iraq -- the pain was becoming more intense.
"It really started hurting opening the door handles," Ewing said. "It would press into my hand, because it was right there, attached to my bone on my finger."
It got so bad that firing his weapon became a problem. His section leader finally sent him to Germany to get it checked out. Like any good soldier, Ewing didn't want to leave his fellow soldiers behind. But lucky he did, because surgery to remove the bump on his hand turned into life-changing news.
"They said I had alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma," Ewing said.
It's a cancer typically found in children that requires intense treatment. Ewing's cancer had already spread to his pelvis.
"I was speechless," his mother, Becky, said. "I didn't know what to say. I wasn't expecting it. Despite the fact that the doctor had warned me before the surgery that it could be."
Ewing is now on week 3 of chemotherapy, and he has 48 more weeks to go. He's gone from fighting for his country overseas, to fighting his own battle here at home. But with a soldier's mindset and his family's support, Ewing plans on winning this fight.
"You just have to focus on the next step," Ewing said. "That's all you can do. Go with how you feel and go for the days that you feel good."
Ewing will likely not be able to return overseas, but he will continue to receive chemotherapy treatments at Fort Riley, Kansas.
His mom will be moving to Kansas during Ewing's chemotherapy.
You can donate at Ewing's GoFundMe page or attend a benefit planned for October 11.