Meet the founder
Hi, I’m Joey, the creator of Prevail2Day. After a rare cancer diagnosis in 2023, I went through 14 rounds of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Treatment ended, but its effects still shape my life. I created this space so people facing rare disease or disability can share their stories, feel heard, and be seen for who they are.
01 / MY JOURNEY
There is more to this story than a diagnosis. There is also the love that carried me forward.
In 2023, I had just started my first season of Division I soccer at Bryant University. I had worked so hard to get there. But the pain in my chest kept getting worse, and I kept trying to push through it. One night after practice, I could barely breathe. At the hospital, I learned there was a mass in my chest. On October 11, I was diagnosed with mesenchymal chondrosarcoma. Suddenly, the future I had pictured felt very far away.
Treatment meant 14 rounds of chemotherapy, 42 days of proton radiation, and surgery. There were frightening setbacks, including seizures. Some days felt impossibly long. Through all of it, the people who stayed beside me reminded me that I did not have to face those days alone. I will always carry that love with me.
I am back at school and on the soccer field, and I am grateful for those moments in a way I never could have understood before. But surviving cancer did not make everything simple again. Healing continues after treatment, and I am still figuring out what life on the other side looks like. Prevail2Day grew from that experience and from a hope that no child or family has to find their way through it alone.
See my journey on InstagramGAME, SET, CHAT / INTERVIEW
Watch my conversation with Game, Set, Chat and get to know more of the person behind Prevail2Day.
Watch on YouTube02 / WHAT MOVES ME
My experiences as an athlete, patient, student, and advocate all shape the way I want to show up for others.
I played Division I soccer at Bryant and now play for Rhode Island College. Returning to the field after treatment meant more than returning to a sport I love. It reminded me that a diagnosis does not get to define every part of a person.
I study biotechnology at RIC and am working toward a career in medicine, with pediatric oncology as my goal. I have researched lipid nanoparticles for cancer immunotherapy, participated in Brown’s Rhode to Medicine program, and work with patients as a medical assistant.
I have volunteered with The Tomorrow Fund. In 2026, I founded The Prevail Cup, bringing the soccer community together to raise more than $8,500 for children with cancer and their families. I want this work to keep growing, one act of support at a time.
03 / WHY PREVAIL2DAY
I created Prevail2Day to share honest experiences, connect people who understand, and make support easier to find. I want it to grow beyond a page into a community that listens to children and families, helps them feel less alone, and turns awareness into meaningful action.
My ultimate goal is to care for children facing cancer as a physician and to keep working alongside families, researchers, advocates, and communities for better treatment and better lives after it.
