Central Catholic High School senior graduates after being diagnosed with cancer

Despite his diagnosis, Noah Adams continues to radiate positivity

Noah Adams was diagnosed with cancer the summer before his senior year at Central Catholic High School.

His battle with the disease started in February 2020, when he injured his knee after skateboarding. After several doctor’s visits, a scan showed Noah had a rare form of bone cancer, called Ewing Sarcoma.

Despite his diagnosis, Noah continued to radiate positivity.

“When I was diagnosed with cancer, for the first two seconds I felt all those negative feelings, all like the dread and the worry and anxiety, and then two seconds later, they all just left and lifted out of me,” Noah said.

Noah’s mom struggled with the news, but says he continues to be her motivation.

“We’re supposed to be able to fix everything for our kids, you know, and take away all the pain as much as we can. And I couldn’t do any of that. And in fact, he kept me going.”

Noah’s friends started the movement #NoahStrong as a way to show their support. But faculty members at Central Catholic say Noah’s impact goes beyond his classmates.

“He’s made a tremendous impact, I think, on the city of San Antonio, not just our campus,” said Ali Goljahmofrad, dean of students at Central Catholic High School.

Between attending chemotherapy, to a life-changing surgery in October 2020, Noah’s senior year has looked different than others, but he didn’t let that get in his way.

James Bendele, science department chair at Central Catholic, says Noah is not only one of his inspirations, but also one of his heroes.

Noah plans on attending the University of Pittsburgh in the fall to study PreMed. His goal is to work in the military and help soldiers with PTSD, or be a child psychiatrist.

More on KSAT:

St. Anthony Catholic High School senior keeps his family tradition alive by choosing to attending Notre Dame


About the Authors

Gretchen Nowroozi was born and raised in Houston. She started working at KSAT as an intern in 2019 after graduating from Michigan State University. She is a producer for Good Morning San Antonio.

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