How This Paralympian Learned to Love Her Body Through Rotationplasty and 26 Rounds of Chemo

Jillian Williams was a living her dream of playing collegiate volleyball when she fractured her femur—but it ended up being much more than a broken bone. She found out she had Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form cancer that attacks your bones and joints. Her best treatment option was extensive chemotherapy and rotationplasty: a surgery where the lower part of the leg is rotated and reattached so that the ankle can function as a knee. Throughout it all, Williams kept a positive mindset: She vowed to stay active and made it her new goal to become a paralympic volleyball player. Now, she's part of the U.S. Women's Sitting Volleyball team and is training to compete at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. She also started Live n Leap, a foundation that helps adolescent and young-adult patients with life-threatening illnesses, and has been using her platform to inspire others to stay positive and active—no matter what their situation