During a recent interview, EVAN opens up for the first time about his childhood cancer battle; he was diagnosed with malignant lymphoma at a young age.
Amid promotions of his first comeback, the K-Pop idol gave an interview to Weverse Magazine about the heartbreaking experience of undergoing intensive treatment. against cancer when he was in the fourth grade.
EVAN revealed that it all started when playing soccer and suddenly struggling to breathe, he received medical examinations, which resulted in him being diagnosed with malignant lymphoma and go through a treatment that he bravely endured with his mother’s company.
“The treatment process wasn’t easy, but when I saw how my mom took care of me nonstop, I wanted to put on a brave face for her.”
At that time he discovered that he enjoyed bringing joy to the people around him and remembered participating in talent shows for fellow patients while undergoing treatment, playing the guitar, or even hosting them, developing his dream of being a singer.
“I dreamed of being a singer ever since I was six, but to be honest, back then I didn’t really have the mental bandwidth to even think about that. I’d watch my friends pass away and kept thinking, ‘I want to live so badly; I want to go home.'”
He finally revealed that even after recovery, returning to his everyday wasn’t easy because of his lack of energy, and he was teased by other children because of the way the chemotherapy affected his hair growing, making him more introverted:
“Since my hair was still growing back from chemo, I got teased a lot for it. My friends would be like, ‘What is that, grass? You’re like a monk.’ But I just took it because I wanted to fit in. Once I got to middle school, I had some good friends, but I wasn’t as outgoing as before.
I became more of an introvert. I haven’t thought about that in a long time. It hurts to bring it back up.”
