Former Glastonbury Sports Standout Beats Death, Now Inspiring Others [VIDEO]

GLASTONBURY, CT — Just four years after being given a less than one percent chance of survival due to aplastic anemia, and then lymphoma, a former high school and college soccer star from Glastonbury is now motivating people as a positive inspiration.

Jon DeCasanova, a 2009 graduate of Glastonbury High School who became an All-Little East Conference player at Eastern Connecticut State University, had his promising athletic career put on hold in 2012 due to a near-fatal case of aplastic anemia. A year later, he was diagnosed with lymphoma.

Following an experimental T-cell infusion, his health began to improve enough that he returned to the ECSU campus in 2014 to pursue his degree in Sport & Leisure Management, and complete his soccer eligibility.

DeCasanova made his comeback on the soccer pitch in Sept. 2014, netting a pair of game-winning goals in eight contests before being sidelined with a concussion.

In his career at ECSU, he netted 13 goals and added 11 assists in 70 contests.

In 2015, the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance honored DeCasanova with the Bob Casey Courage Award, presented at the annual Gold Key Dinner.

In a newly-produced "Warrior Profile" video by ETV, DeCasanova talks about his athletic career, his illness and his current passion for motivational speaking and helping others.

"The Eastern program as a whole has always supported me, and that's the greatness of it," he said in the video. "I was so fortunate to have so many outlets and things that could motivate me. I had amazing support through friends and family, I had amazing doctors, I had amazing nurses that always motivated me to kind of get back on my feet and get where I wanted to be."

Now 25, DeCasanova is finishing classes, working and "getting back into the real world." He is currently doing motivational speaking, broadcasting sports at ECSU and working for a YMCA.

"My goal is whatever I do, as long as I can help someone else or help a group of people, that I can positively influence them in some way," he said.

Photo courtesy of Jon DeCasanova

Video credit: Eastern Connecticut Athletics via YouTube