“First Person” shares the stories of people who make a life here, in their words. Conversations are edited for clarity and length.
Danny York, 22, is a familiar face at the Salt Cod Cafe, where he has greeted customers with a friendly smile for seven summers. Most wouldn’t know that midway through college, he was treated for a rare type of cancer spreading through his body.
I couldn’t have asked for a better place to grow up than Harpswell. I was on the water, where I love to fish. Close to the mountains, where I love to ski. Where we lived on Doughty Point Road, there were five of us kids who’d always hang out. We’d take off on our bikes, be free in the neighborhood.
Every Friday, my friends, my brother Josh and our folks would go to Stover’s Point beach. We’d drive our cars right on the beach, straight across from the Cribstone Bridge. My parents (Matt and Aimee) and the others would all have chairs together. They’d grill and we’d be on the beach all day, which was awesome.
I decided to go to the University of Maine at Farmington to study outdoor recreation. One winter I was working the overnight shift making snow at Sugarloaf. It was negative 15 degrees, super windy and dark. You’re pulling heavy hoses and snow guns through the night. There are some steep trails where you barely have any footing. You’ve got your ice ax and, if you begin to slide, you have to dig in to stop. It’s definitely dangerous.
On June 24, 2023, two buddies and I went to hike Mount Katahdin. It was raining and when we got down, I was like, “Wow, my hip is really bothering me.” I couldn’t sleep; it was this sharp pain. I went to my doctor’s office and they said, “You might have torn your hip flexor.” But then they had me do an MRI and said, “You need to come into the office.”
They found a mass in my left hip; a tumor had grown to the point where there was so much pressure that it fractured. It had spread to my back, my shoulders, one of my ribs. They sent me to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. In September of that year, they diagnosed me with anaplastic large cell lymphoma.
It was awful. I was on a lot of pain meds and lost 40 pounds; at one point, I weighed 123. I’m over 6 feet tall, so I was tiny. I lost all the muscle in my leg. I was on crutches for all of August, September and into October. I would go every three weeks for treatment, have to sit in the chair for multiple hours on chemotherapy. I lost pretty much all of my hair, had just a light fuzz.
It was intense, but I received so much support from my family, friends and the community. There were nights when my mom would spend the night with me. My girlfriend, Cassidy O’Donnell, pretty much lived with us; she’d set the alarm and wake me up to take my endless book of meds. There was a GoFundMe that a family friend created to help with the expenses, which helped a lot.
There was a point where I was like, “How did I end up with this?” I thought about all my friends up at school, going skiing, taking classes and having fun. But then I decided, “I can get back there.” I learned that you have to stay optimistic, keep pushing through it. I can’t sit there and worry about it. It’s happening.
They gave me one of the most aggressive chemos. If it didn’t work, my body wouldn’t have been able to handle a second round. The treatments went on for months, but after the third treatment they did a scan and found I was completely clear. The tumor just stopped growing. It was crazy.
I started walking again in October. Originally, they thought they were going to have to put a cage on my back, take the vertebrae out and probably do a hip replacement and be on crutches until who knows when. I got rid of the crutches in the middle of October, finished chemo and went back to school in January 2024.
My teachers at UMF were very accommodating and told me I could do as much as I wanted online. I don’t think I took any of them online; I just wanted to be back, be with my friends, leave it all behind.
I graduated on time and, at this point, all the scans are clear. I go every three or four months and, as time goes on, it will get longer and longer between checks. I’m planning to move out west, go work in the ski industry out there, then eventually move back to Harpswell. My parents run the Log Cabin Inn and I’d like to take over at some point. If I have kids, I’d like to raise them in Harpswell. I love it here.
Cancer definitely changed my outlook on everything. I don’t take anything for granted. I was bedridden for months, really didn’t leave my room at all. I love to ski, teach kids and help people enjoy the outdoors. All the things my body can do — I definitely value that.
