Cancer survivor serves as OCC’s inspiration

The volleyball float serve is meant to dip and dive, to, in essence, bottom out. That’s the one Ivan Garcia-Burgos uses. It’s the one with which he identifies most.

It’s the one he used to produce an ace in Orange Coast College’s home match against Palomar on March 18. The ball dropped onto the end line, untouched. In so doing, just as the Pirates’ freshman libero has done all season, it uplifted an entire program.

“It was an exhilarating moment in my volleyball career, to score an ace in a college match,” Garcia-Burgos said.

It is an unlikely career to be sure, a blessing beyond the most precious gift of recovery from a rare form of leukemia that left the 23-year-old Irvine resident on the brink of death in 2014.

“The doctors told me that had I not gone to the emergency room that day [after feeling tired at work], I could have died within a week,” Garcia-Burgos said. “Two days later, I was admitted to the hospital and they started me on massive amounts of chemotherapy and radiation. I had acute lymphoblastic leukemia and they told me the only cure was a bone marrow transplant.”

Garcia-Burgos, a 5-foot-11 starting opposite during two of his three varsity seasons at University High, said the treatment leading to his transplant was so debilitating, he pondered letting the ball drop.

“The easiest thing is to give up,” he said. “You want to just fade away and call it quits. But I realized I had to make a choice: to fight or to give up. I chose to fight; to fight for life and to fight for another day.”

The transplant process included five months in the hospital, during which his physique changed from an athletic 160 pounds to a 100-pound picture of fragility. And even when he came home, medication to suppress his immune system in order to prevent rejection of the new bone marrow left him weary and vulnerable to illness and/or infection.

“It was basically a whole new lifestyle,” Garcia-Burgos said. “I wanted to do things, to go out, but I had no energy.”

Eventually, with his leukemia in full remission, he began to resume his life, which meant a return to college. It also prompted a return to volleyball, which he had not played while attending Saddleback College in 2012-13.

“My goal had always been to play college volleyball,” Garcia-Burgos said. “I figured, why not do it now? I’d been through so much already, why not do something for myself, something I’d always wanted to do.”

A return to the court, however, wasn’t quite as seamless as a deftly executed bump, set and spike.

“I was like a needle in a haystack,” Garcia-Burgos recalled of the initial tryout sessions. “I wasn’t very good.”

Physical limitations, including side effects from medication that give him sensations that his muscles and skin are painfully tight, compromised Garcia-Burgos’ proficiency. The pain often forced him to step out of drills and conditioning.

“I was kind of looked at the wrong way, because people didn’t know my story yet,” Garcia-Burgos said.

“There were about 80 people in the gym and no one knew who he was,” said OCC outside hitter Gianluca Grasso. “He wasn’t very talented and everyone was like, what’s this guy doing here?

“Then, [Coach Travis Turner] told us his story and everyone felt for him. From then on, we have all looked up to him. After suffering from cancer and nearly dying, he chose to be part of this team. He’s just a fighter. I look up to him. This guy really loves the game and he is working as hard as he can to be here.”

Turner said Garcia-Burgos has taught everyone in the program an important lesson about acceptance.

“Seeing how the guys responded to him and the way they have treated him has been really special,” Turner said. “It’s fascinating to me that [Garcia-Burgos] is choosing to be a part of this team. And he is totally a regular part of the team. No one treats him any differently. There are things he can’t do, but even [persevering through limitations] inspires our other guys.”

Said Garcia-Burgos: “Ever since Travis told my story, the team has been so amazing about supporting me every day. My recovery continues and every day is a fight within myself to get up and go to school and go to practice.

“I just feel that whether you are the most-talented player on the team or the least-talented player on the team, you always have something to offer,” Garcia-Burgos said. “And I think that just being here every day and not making any excuses, is something my teammates can feed off. They don’t see me giving up, so they don’t give up. I push these guys every day. I genuinely do care about the guys and the guys care about me, and I think we have that same goal in mind.”

Garcia-Burgos, a communications major, said his goals include continuing to inspire others by pursuing a career in motivational speaking. He has also started Ivan’s Choice Leukemia Foundation, which has already raised approximately $5,000 to assist with medical costs for children fighting the disease.

The Pirates (19-2, 12-1 in the Pacific Coast Conference) can clinch an outright conference title with a win over visiting Grossmont on Friday at 6 p.m. OCC is already assured a berth in the state final four, beginning April 28 at Los Angeles Pierce College.

Garcia-Burgos will continue to serve the Pirates as they fight for a state championship.