When Alexa Score first told friends and family she wanted to be a professional wakeboarder, not everyone was supportive of her decision. Yet Score had already faced much more than a normal teenager should, making it easy to quell the concerns of those around her. At the age of 16, the athlete was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia. Her strength and determination to fight the disease proved more than enough to beat it. Now at 23, she is living her dream of being a professional wakeboarder.
Score was diagnosed with cancer on December 1, 2006. Already in the middle of her high school gymnastics season, Score’s friends and family were devastated to hear the news. But to their surprise, she did not react with tears; instead, she was determined to recover.
Her family marveled at the then 16-year-old’s ability to stare down cancer and embark on the fight of her young life. There were times when she was so tired she would sleep for 18 hours a day. However, Score never doubted that she would recover. She recalls, “I knew I was going to get better. There wasn’t any other way.” As if to prove her confidence, she stunned doctors by making a full recovery – a mere two months after they told her she would likely require a bone marrow transplant.
By 2007 she was preparing to lead her high school gymnastics team to victory at the state level for the first time. She competed with her team just days after dealing with intense bone pain, and went on to win the balance beam event. Despite a promising future in gymnastics, Score went on to pursue her true passion – wakeboarding. She decided to attend college in Orlando, where she would be able to accomplish her goals. Perhaps not surprisingly, she won the amateur women’s division at the wakeboarding nationals in 2011.
Today, Score has made her dream come true and can call herself a professional wakeboarder. Even after battling cancer at a young age, she continues to push the limits of women’s wakeboarding.
The determined athlete credits her mentality for making all the difference in her fight against cancer. The strength of the human spirit and the will to live are powerful things. Score said, “willpower and determination became 90 percent of my recovery.”
To find more information about resources for cancer patients, or to find an oncologist in Las Vegas, contact Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, an affiliate of UCLA and The U.S. Oncology Network, at (702) 952-3350.