Cover Photo in American Cancer Society’s National Magazine

In early January I met Lynn Nguyen in downtown Iowa City who shared with me how normal her life has been – with one “real” eye.

She was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a cancer that resulted in doctors removing her right eye when she was only 1.5 years old. Soon after she got a prosthetic eye – what she’s had all of her life.

As a senior last year at Iowa City High School Lynn was applying for scholarships and saw one offered by the American Cancer Society. She applied, and won a $1,000 scholarship. Lynn told me all this in a very matter-of-fact way: This is how it is, no big deal (except the scholarship money, of course).

But the ACS was so impressed with Lynn it featured her on the cover for a story about young survivors of childhood cancer in its current issue of Triumph. It’s the ACS official magazine for donors who give at least $250 annually, and is sent three times a year to more than 300,000 people nationwide.

I was THRILLED to photograph the story. And this past week, Lynn and I were excited to get our copies of the magazine in the mail.

Cover of Spring 2010 Triumph magazine

Inside, pgs. 14-15

Pg. 16

Over her Thanksgiving break Lynn had surgery so the tissue behind her old prosthetic could heal (hence the bandage in these photos) – making it necessary for a new eye to better fit her face as she gets older. Lynn recently received her new prosthetic, and is continuing life as a busy freshman at the University of Iowa.