High School Friends, Both Diagnosed with Cancer Months Apart, Support Each Other Through Treatment

Two Georgia high school friends who faced cancer diagnoses just months apart ended up helping each other through some of the hardest moments of their lives.

Sophomore J.P. Thomas first learned he had Burkitt’s lymphoma, a rare and fast-growing cancer, after going to the doctor for knee pain, he told Atlanta News First (ANF). Tests revealed the disease had spread. “There were spots all over my body,” he said. “I had them on my skull, shoulders, arms, hip and legs.”

While J.P. underwent chemotherapy at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, his friend Camilo Henao stayed close, showing up to support him during treatment. “I was like, ‘Dang, that has to suck,’ ” Camilo recalled to ANF.

A few months later, Camilo received shocking news of his own: he, too, had cancer. His first round of chemotherapy was brutal. He described that week as “the worst week I’ve had in my life.”

By then, J.P. had finished his treatment and shifted from patient to cheerleader, visiting Camilo in the hospital and offering encouragement as his friend fought through the same ordeal he had just survived. During that time, J.P. learned he was officially cancer-free.

Tradition at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta calls for patients who finish treatment to ring a victory bell, but J.P. decided to wait. “Why would I have the joy of ringing the bell when my friend is still going through the same thing?” he told ANF.

On Nov. 21, the two finally got to celebrate together, ringing the bell side by side. Looking back, J.P. said they’ve learned to find light moments even in such a difficult experience. “We joke about losing hair a lot,” he shared with the outlet.

Their families have praised the team at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for helping both boys through their illnesses. “It’s not a hospital,” Camilo’s father told ANF. “It’s an embassy of heaven on earth.”