At 19 years old, Cari Hyde was a healthy, competitive college athlete with dreams of becoming a teacher, marrying her high school sweetheart and continuing her volleyball career. But in March 2006, her life changed dramatically when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
In this powerful two-part Cedarville Stories podcast, Hyde talks about her battle with cancer, the life-threatening complications she endured and the extraordinary ways she witnessed God’s faithfulness during her darkest moments.
Hyde, a former Cedarville University volleyball player, recalls the excitement of competing under Coach Teresa Clark and the bright future she envisioned. However, after months of unexplained illness and exhaustion, doctors delivered the devastating diagnosis. Her white blood cell count had reached more than 390,000, and she immediately began aggressive chemotherapy.
Despite treatment, the cancer spread to her spinal fluid and brain, leaving a bone marrow transplant as her only chance for survival. With no suitable donor in her family or the United States registry, doctors eventually located a near-perfect match in Germany. On September 5, 2006, Hyde received the lifesaving transplant, despite being given just a 13% chance of survival.
Throughout her treatment, Hyde experienced unimaginable physical suffering, spending more than 200 days in the hospital during her first year of illness. Yet she remembers experiencing an overwhelming peace from God, even when doctors warned her family that she might not survive.
Her family, future husband, Ryan, and the Cedarville community surrounded her with prayer and encouragement. During one particularly critical night, her Cedarville teammates gathered for hours in prayer after learning she might not live through the night. By the following morning, Hyde had recovered enough to leave intensive care.
Through every setback, Hyde discovered that her greatest hope was not simply surviving cancer but knowing Jesus Christ. Her diagnosis transformed her perspective, creating an urgency to share the Gospel and deepening her family’s faith.
Listen to part one of Hyde’s remarkable testimony of perseverance, answered prayer and God’s sustaining grace through life’s most difficult circumstances.
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