Chyle Veazey

To say Chyle Veazey has been through a lot is an understatement. Not only has he dealt with massive physical pain throughout his life, he has dealt with emotional, and even spiritual pain that would make anybody ask the simple question, “Why me, God?”

Before most are introduced to peer pressure and the temptations of drugs and alcohol, Chyle was fighting for his life being diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer at the young age of eleven. When asked what it was like to be told he had cancer, he always says the same thing- “I didn’t know what to think. I wasn’t scared because frankly, I didn’t know what cancer was. When my dad told me I had cancer, it felt like a movie. I was waiting for the director to say ‘Cut!’ However, much to my dismay, he never did. If anything, the real Director said ‘Action!’

Chyle would have another battle with Cancer the following year as it spread from his Thyroid to his Thymus, all throughout his Neck, into his Chest, and finally coming to a rest in his lungs. What was worst is that the Cancer had wrapped itself around Chyle’s vocal chords and the doctor said there was a chance that Chyle would never talk above a whisper. Thankfully, the surgeon was able to clear the cancer and save Chyle’s life.

Three years later, Chyle’s world would be shocked again as he would be diagnosed with a brain tumor. Chyle would have his first surgery on September 10th, 2001 in Washington, DC’s Children’s Hospital. On the morning of September 11th, 2001, Chyle and his Father would begin seeing smoke billowing out of a building next to them. Chyle’s dad would get a call telling them to to turn of the TV. Just as they did, they saw a plane crash into the side of a building. September 11th, 2001 is a day that would change America forever; September 12th, 2001 is a day that would change Chyle Veazey forever.

Just as Chyle and his family were packing their pags to leave, the doctor came in and said they would have to do another surgery. The surgery was scheduled for later that day. As Chyle was lying in ICU at five p.m. September 12th, he shot up, eyes bulging. He was trying to scream, but nothing was coming out. Then, as suddenly as he rose, he would fall back to bed. He was having a stroke. Chyle’s life would never be the same.

He would begin learning how to do things that most fifteen year olds to without thinking: eating, walking, and most importantly, speaking. The day Chyle came home from the hospital, he told his mom he wanted to play guitar. With a tear in her eye she said, “I’m sorry Bo Bo. You can’t play guitar.”

Chyle would devise a plan that involved him holding the guitar in his lap, playing the chords with his left hand, and having his mom strum the guitar with his right. They would do this every day for a year until it became too much for Chyle to bear not being able to play by himself. He would put his guitar down and not pick it up for almost a year.

Chyle’s cousin, Brandon, also played guitar and was the same age as Chyle. One night, they were talking on AIM when Chyle said, “I gave up.”

Brandon would say something that would stick with Chyle for the rest of his life. He said, “One day, you’ll pick up your guitar and say, ‘I’m going to play you today’. So you’ll pick it up, try and strum, but you won’t play. So you’ll put it down and go to sleep. Only to get up the next morning, look at your guitar and say, ‘I’m going to play you today’. So you’ll pick it up, try and strum, but you still won’t be able to play. So you’ll put it down and go to sleep. Then you’ll wake up, look at your guitar, and say, ‘I’m going to play you today,’ and you’ll pick it up, try to strum, but you still won’t be able to play. So you’ll put it down and go to sleep. Then one day you’ll wake up, look at your guitar, and say, ‘I’m going to play you today’. So you pick up your guitar, hold the pick in your hand, try and strum, and all of a sudden, BAM!”

And that’s just what Chyle did. He began trying to play again and through many days and nights of trying to come up with ways to play, he would come up with a plan that involved him wearing a baseball glove on his right hand and duct taping the pick to the glove which made it easier to hold onto the pick. Chyle was finally playing guitar again, but would never guess what was in store for him down the road.

Chyle has been going to church regularly since he was born. He always says he learned the most while attending Temple Baptist Church in Herndon, Virginia. It was here he grew the most spiritually learning not just Bible stories, but how to take the Bible and apply it to his everyday life.

“I didn’t just learn how to read the Bible, I learned how to study the Bible. Believe me, there’s a huge difference.”

Ironically, while Chyle has always been a “good person” and a faithful church attendee, he says he wasn’t truly saved until he was twenty-one.

“I asked God to forgive me of my sin many times before, but I didn’t have a desire to have a r