Founder & CEO
Kielan Wilson-Premo
Discovering Myself
I never thought such a fulfilling, challenging, and inspiring opportunity would ever present itself to me. A life long fever dream was all it ever was for me. Until now. I must give thanks to my Mentors. They helped me discover my own passion for doing this work. Then after continuing to guide, support, and strengthen the Nuts & Bolts of my organization. Youth Buddies will not only connect and empower struggling transitional aged youth and those affected by AYA cancer, But will also challenge policies & procedures that inhibit (TAY) from accessing services. I should note this is just the start. Only the beginning. However, it's the first day of the rest of my life. Each day I wake up is not only a miracle but also a log of hope thrown onto my hearts fire that fuels the passion needed for this work. Cancer tends to promote "seize the day" before it seizes me behavior, though it may seem like a positive outlook, it can create a challenging environment to find purpose, self, and meaning. Being informed of my potential soon to be burial, I did just that & lived an extremely risky life. I had fun & also felt the most empty, struggling to understand who I was & why I was still living against all odds. It took many years to even grasp who I might be, I still notice new things about myself as time goes by but the difference is these changes are clearly personal growth. As I’ve developed this program I’ve learned a vast variety of skills. The closer I get to achieving a goal written off due to cancer, the more I feel empowered, strengthened, and Connected with myself. Oddly enough simultaneously I also experience an increase of fear, and anxiety derived from obtaining things I deeply care about. It can be easy to let go when you have nothing, but the polar opposite can be said for someone who has just found true purpose. Simply moving forward and growing is a raw empowerment of personal perseverance but also an honest & indirect beacon of hope to those still struggling. While also empowering myself by taking back something cancer & mental health took away from me long ago. The Future, My Career, and a meaningful life impacting others.
6 Months or 8% Survival Operation
Community is my Recovery
More to Come
Beating the Odds
An ER Easter
One Second at a Time
Tubes Where Tubes Shouldn't be
Life-At-Last
Anybody that knows me, will understand the purpose I have in this field. I'm hoping to expand on something I'm already doing, and make it much more accessible for others. I wish when I was diagnosed at 12 years old that I had someone to just sit with me, tell jokes, but also warn me that I was going to go through some of the most trying and painful times in my life. I expected the worse to be over when I left that hospital but little did i know my cancer is a chronic disease of the mind and soul if left untreated. I didn't know anyone my age going similar things and I definitely did not want to go sit in a room and talk about this stupid thing called Cancer with some guy that's old enough to be my grandfather. Regardless of age I didn't want to discuss my actual feelings of cancer with anyone near me. How do you tell your family that you know is already deeply pained that you don't feel strong, and sometimes you just didn't have to deal with everything going on. Its a difficult place. I still never disclosed those things for a long time in my life and it led me to even more struggles. I don't want anyone to ever have to blindly deal with those things again, even if its just a warning, at least it wasn't a blind side wondering why things keep going a certain way but even after all that you still have people that know exactly how that feels. The best part is some of them navigated through it, and can provide a personal knowledge on how to navigate back to a place of recovery and what that might look like for that individual. I want to remove the disconnect, and raise awareness about cancers relationship with addiction and mental health. Lastly I want it to be something nobody has to search for, its already in your hand at diagnoses then boom your connected with survivors around the country and in your county. I want to create something that could eventually take its own life apart from me that positively connects and effects Transitional Age Youth struggling with mental health, Addiction, and/or Cancer