Most high school freshmen don’t have to stand in front of a large audience and talk about their cancer experience. Gary Wayne Yost, a thoughtful 14-year-old from the Seattle area, doesn’t have to, either.

But he chooses to stand behind a podium and talk about what happened to him as a 10-year-old because he knows his ordeal carries certain lessons about the early detection of cancer, the importance of research and perseverance.

“I don’t think I have ever made it through one of his speeches without getting teary-eyed and upset,” said Paula, his adoring mom. As she listens to him, she relives his experience—the family’s experience—all over again. But it’s a small price to pay if her son’s 108 visits to the hospital, 14 rounds of  chemotherapy, six trips to the emergency room, dozens upon dozens of blood draws, 27 X-rays and seven CT scans will inspire someone to donate to research.

Certainly, this is just a partial list of what it took to remove a softball-size tumor from his chest. There’s no math that can calculate the emotional toll on Gary and his family.

Cancer makes you grow up pretty fast. Just ask Gary. Recently, he spoke at a formal event to raise funds to support early cancer detection research at the Hutchinson Center.

He doesn’t change the speech much. What is written is what is true.

“I try to keep my speech straightforward,” said Gary, who was treated for bone cancer. “Not totally sad or happy. The honest truth is that going through all the experiences was very difficult, but as long as you have family and friends around you, you can keep your spirits up.”

About the speech: “I’m not a great writer in particular, and I’m trying to get better at English. My mom helped me with the speech.” No shame in that, of course. Mom helped him with a lot more than stringing sentences together.

Most freshmen also don’t call themselves cancer survivors. Gary became one at age 10. Cancer is certainly a major part of his life experience, but he likes to stress to everyone that he is a happy kid, healthy and active—a defender on his soccer team. His cancer, he knows, was caught early enough so something could be done about it.

And as he grows older, he wants to do his part. Today it’s speeches. A few years down the road, it might be something else.

“I know that research is very important. This is how we find ways to detect cancer much earlier. And this is how we learn how to fight it best,” he said.

“I don’t know if I’ll become a researcher some day. But I do know that I want to do something that is helpful to the world. It is my way of paying back.”