Villanova volleyball star Gabby Pethokoukis has courageous outlook

AT ONE POINT, all Gabby Pethokoukis really wanted out of life was to "just start feeling normal again."

Sounds simple enough. But maybe not when you've been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer near the end of your sophomore year at Villanova. A cancer that most often is diagnosed in people from Africa, and people over 40.

"When they first told me I looked it up on the Internet and I was kind of shocked," she said. "How did this happen to me? But I try not to dwell on negative things. There's a reason for everything. I knew God would help me through it."

Pethokoukis had Burkitt's Lymphoma, a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a rare but aggressive form of the disease. She found out the news in February of 2014, after being named second-team all-Big East as a volleyball player. She returned to her native Chicago to undergo intensive chemotherapy treatments. Doctors told her it was the strongest form of chemo, and she received what was estimated to be nine months of treatments in a three-month period. But by June she was completely in remission and cancer-free. Still, there was a long way to go.

Pethokoukis returned to the Main Line, but just wasn't in good enough shape to resume her athletic career. So she sat out her junior season. But, in 2015 she helped lead the Wildcats to a 25-9 record and an NCAA Tournament berth, their first since 1997 and second overall. It was also their most wins in 22 years, and she again made second-team all-conference as a middle blocker.

"It was definitely tough at times," said Pethokoukis, a finance major (with an economics minor) who will graduate with her class in May, after which she plans to join her father in the field of wealth management. "It was a long journey. It was really emotional. But it was, 'What exactly do I need to do to deal with this?' I was definitely in disbelief at first. It was a shock. I just had to stay strong and positive. It helps to have an athlete's mentality."

On Monday night at the annual Philadelphia Sports Writers Association banquet at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, Pethokoukis was recognized as the organization's Most Courageous Athlete. It's the honor that has always set this banquet apart.

"I was surprised when they told me," she said. "It's such a strange thing. After you wait for so long, it just felt great to be able to contribute to the team again. That was so important. It was a big deal for me. Honestly, it humbles you.

"But it's something you can't fight alone. It was more than just me. I had family, my siblings, a boyfriend, teammates, the (Villanova) athletic community around me. We all went through it together. They were there for anything I needed. So this award means a lot to all of us."

There are some truly inspirational names on the list of previous winners. Now she's part of that legacy too. This summer she goes for her final six-month scan. If she gets through that the chances of her ever having a recurrence drop dramatically, although she will have to do follow-up blood work for the next decade.

"It's a big milestone, moving forward," she said. "When I was in the hospital, I did some research. I remember seeing pictures of kids going through even worse (medical issues). So I could have gone through a lot worse. People do. They're the people I consider courageous.

"I remember sitting in the hospital wishing I had homework to do, or a practice to go to. The doctors reassured me there was no doubt they were going to be able to cure it. But it's definitely hard being away from the place that's been your home, that you've grown to love."

Pethokoukis had suffered from mononucleosis as a freshman. So when she started feeling fatigued, she thought she'd had a relapse. Then she noticed a lump in the area of her throat. And her world changed. There were times when she had to spend five straight days at the hospital while treatments were being administered.

"You look forward to the little things," she recalled. "You draw, paint, read, watch Netflix. I had a lot of visitors. But most of the time I was sedentary.

"The chemo took a toll on me. The day-to-day was draining . . . (Later) I'd have to walk from South Campus to the Main Campus and I would have to stop because I was super out of breath. There were a lot of things that were uncomfortable. I just wanted to put it behind me and get back to (the way it was). It took a lot. But it paid off.

"Now I'm more appreciative of just life in general, of everything I have around me, the opportunities I've been given."

To be a typical person heading into what hopefully will be a long rest of her journey, even though she's anything but.

On Twitter: @mikekerndn