Terminal brain cancer at 27, he chose to keep playing; How Joey Cecil has defied stats and doctors

May is Brain Cancer Awareness Month. And there’s no story that captures the essence of that fight quite like Joey Cecil’s.

At just 27 years old, Joey was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer. A diagnosis that doesn’t offer much hope. Five-year survival rates are in the single digits, and most do not make it to year two after their diagnosis.

For most people, it is a death sentence. But Joey has defied those stats.

With a life-saving device strapped to his head and the weight of that diagnosis on his shoulders, Joey went back to the one place that had always felt like home: the bowling alley.

Bowling wasn’t just a hobby. It was where he spent countless afternoons growing up, standing next to his dad, learning the game one frame at a time. Over the years, he didn’t just fall in love with it—he became great at it. Before his diagnosis, Joey had already achieved what most bowlers only dream of: 30 perfect games.

How good of a bowler is Joey? Well, while shooting B-roll for this story, he rolled a 299.

Even after his diagnosis, with a life-saving device strapped to his head, medical equipment attached to his back, and the weight of that news on his shoulders, Joey kept showing up in search of perfection.

And then, less than a year after doctors told him he was dying, Joey did what no one thought was possible—he bowled a perfect game.

Watch his story here:

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