I Am Not Cancer. I Am CrossFit.

Exhausted and overwhelmed after battling thyroid cancer, Kelly Knight discovers CrossFit and newfound energy and confidence. Hilary Achauer reports.

When Kelly Knight turns on her phone, the first thing she sees is this quote by Martha Washington: “I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself.”

Knight, a 48-year-old registered nurse, has found herself in some dark situations lately. Her son, now 25, has been sick for the past five years. Nobody could figure out the problem until a recent visit to the Mayo Clinic uncovered a tumor in his adrenal glands. In the midst of caring for and worrying about her son, Knight was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in December 2010. The cancer spread to her lymph nodes, and she went through two full rounds of radiation.

In October 2011, Knight visited RSA CrossFit in Kennewick, Wash. Owner Joey Sanchez, a cancer survivor himself, greeted her and showed her around. Sanchez was diagnosed with synovial cell sarcoma when he was 15 years old. He almost lost his left arm, but after several surgeries and chemotherapy, he has been cancer-free for 15 years. Knight started slowly but was immediately hooked.