Posted: Apr 10, 2017

Ivan's Choice Fundraiser Night set for Wednesday vs. Irvine Valley

The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team will host Irvine Valley on Wednesday night, beginning at 6 p.m. and all proceeds from that match will go to the "Ivan's Choice Leukemia Foundation".

"Ivan's Choice" is a foundation created by current OCC Men's Volleyball player Ivan Garcia-Burgos, who was striken with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia back in 2014. For more information on this special athlete and his foundation, please read below ...

THE CHOICE OF A LIFETIME

After a grueling bout with cancer, OCC's Ivan Garcia-Burgos has beaten the odds both on and off the court

In 2014, Ivan Garcia-Burgos was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia – a very aggressive form of blood cancer – and after several massive doses of full-body radiation and aggressive chemotherapy, the pain was to the point of unbearable.

The radiation had burned his skin and the side effects from his treatment included nausea, vomiting and violent hiccups, bringing Garcia-Burgos to his breaking point.

"When I was sick and going through the worst part of it, I told myself had two choices … to give up and die or to keep fighting and living," Garcia-Burgos said. "I chose to live."

From there, everything changed, both on the inside and on the outside for the Orange Coast College sophomore men's volleyball player. Despite losing over 60 pounds and almost all of his athletic strength and stamina, Garcia-Burgos was not going to let anything stand in the way of his dream – to play collegiate volleyball.

"Even before I got sick, I wasn't sure if I was good enough to play at the collegiate level, but after going through what I went through, I figured, 'How hard can it be?'" Garcia-Burgos said.

After transferring from Saddleback College to OCC, Garcia-Burgos found himself inside the Peterson Gym with dozens and dozens of the top volleyball athletes in the area and his answer of the difficulty level was quickly answered.

"So I sent out an email to (head coach Travis Turner) and I think I received the generic message back, telling me where the classrooms were," Garcia said with a laugh. "I remember my first experience with the volleyball and there were so many kids, so they assigned each to specific squads and about five minutes in, my legs were trembling from being so tired. I do remember getting the stink eye from some of the guys, but they didn't know what I was going through. They didn't know that I was a week into oral chemotherapy."

Here is Turner's recollection of the story … "We had 60 guys in the gym and were scrimmaging and he was daily the worst guy in the gym. I was bummed because he was basically killing the scrimmage for his team. I don't cut anyone so I just had to let it go. About halfway through practice, he comes over to talk to me and I'm thinking to myself, 'Oh good -- he sees this is not going to work.' He says, 'Coach, I need to let you know a few things.' He goes into his story and my jaw is on the ground. The one thing that stuck with me from that conversation, besides the courage he exhibited by even trying to play was that when the ball hits his arms it feels like he is being burnt. The medications he was on caused his skin to tighten up and the pain of the ball hitting it was horrible. "

After hearing Ivan's story, Turner went to the team and everything was put into its proper perspective. "Travis talked to the guys and once my teammates knew my story and what I was going through they felt like if he can come out here and give everything he's got to this program, they should be able to as well," Garcia-Burgos said. "I was able to do everything they did. If they did stadium steps, I did stadium steps. If they ran 400s, I ran 400s … obviously I didn't do them as well or as fast as they did, but as long as I showed them what I was willing to go through for this team, they should be able to make the same effort.

Teammate Brian Diniz had this memory of the early practices … "I remember running our first 400 (one time around the track) and all I remember was Ivan being dead last. We couldn't let him finish all by himself so we went back and ran with him till the end. Knowing Ivan he would have done the same and more. We would never leave one of us behind so there's no way in hell we would leave Ivan. He is truly one of the hardest workers on our team."

Said Turner of Ivan's work ethic, "Over the next two months, he insisted on trying to do everything. He would finish running after practice if he could not get it done during our practice."

Bringing out the best in his teammates, Garcia-Burgos helped lead the Pirates to the Pacific Coast Conference title and a trip to the California Community College Athletic Association Men's Volleyball State Championship match, where the Pirates fell to powerhouse Long Beach City College in four sets.

Despite all of the adversity, Garcia-Burgos managed to fulfill his dream as he competed with the Pirates for a few points during the season. "I had every intent to redshirt last year, but then Travis threw me in for a serve against El Camino College and I remember being so nervous, I missed the serve for my only action. But later, I got in against Palomar and the work I'd put in on my floating jump-serve paid off. I remember seeing it go over the net, then, drop right onto the line for an ace. It was such an amazing feeling and a sense of accomplishment that I can still compete and play volleyball at a high level."

Ivan's amazing spirit wasn't just confined to the volleyball court as the Pirate players became like a second family to the 24-year-old. "The attitude on that team was amazing," Garcia-Burgos said. "It was such a fun season, not only while competing and practicing, but just hanging out and driving to the matches. We all became great friends. The guys believe in me … the coaches believe in me … my teachers and school believe in me, and that only makes me stronger as an individual.

"OCC has encouraged me to be the best I can be and they haven't treated me any differently than any other student. That has made this experience so much better. There is a path you can take to be successful and if you're willing to put in the time and effort to succeed, OCC will help you reach your final goals. If you're struggling, go get the help that the college provides and you can accomplish anything. If you invest 16 weeks of your time into a class and the professor sees that, they will invest their time into you as well because they want you to succeed."

Assistant coach McKay Smith witnessed the bond between Garcia-Burgos and his team only get stronger and stronger as the season progressed. "While working with the middle blockers last season, Ivan would pass and dig balls while the middles would work on their hitting and blocking," Smith said. "This could get monotonous for any player, but Ivan used every single repetition so get better and help his teammates improve. If one guy wasn't working as hard as he possibly could Ivan was the first to let them know. If someone was playing great, Ivan was the first to let them know and would continue to help fuel their fire. I had the pleasure of getting to ride in Ivan's van every road trip last year. While some might have been dreading another two-hour drive to San Diego, Ivan was always ecstatic to have another opportunity to travel with his teammates and to help the team in any way possible. Even little things like creating a new playlist to fire the guys up every drive. There aren't enough good things you can say about his work ethic and passion, he is somebody all his teammates and everyone around him looks up to."

Now the Pirates head into the most intense portion of the 2016-17 season and there are high expectations for this talented squad, but Garcia-Burgos feels like this is the type of team that can handle that type of pressure. "We've got some talented young guys and some older guys who are hungry and want to return to the state championships," he said. "We've got guys who can lead and our younger guys want to learn and get better. This year, we have some added height which can only make us better. We had a ton of players return to the program from last year and if I had any impact on them coming back, then I'm happy about that."

With a future that at one time looked so bleak, the sky is the limit for Garcia-Burgos following his career with the Pirates. "Ever since I was a little boy, I dreamed about going to UCLA," he said. "I am the first in my family to go to college and I want to graduate with my degree (majoring in communications). I've been given this opportunity and I want to take full advantage of it. I'm going to do everything I can to make this happen.

"Someday, I'd love to develop a program that teaches doctors and nurses a better way to develop better relationships with their patients … not just to be a 'number' or a statistic. I also love to cook! I've got my own pasta sauce that's pretty good. Perhaps I'll start a career in the food industry, where we can create healthy, homemade foods at reasonable, inexpensive prices."

During his time at Orange Coast College, the best thing the college did for Garcia-Burgos was to just let him be a normal student and to simply be there for him.

In addition to his time spent in the classrooms and volleyball court, Garcia-Burgos began his own foundation to help others afflicted with this terrible disease called "Ivan's Choice".

"I'd love to be able to help others, especially the younger kids who get stricken with this disease and don't know what's going on or how to handle the situation," Garcia-Burgos said. "I want to mentor and motivate and courage – be a leader and a role model for these young patients. Give them what they need and help them set a positive attitude right at the very beginning so they can have the belief that they can overcome.

"Our foundation has raised $5,000 so far and we're just getting started. I'd love to devote more of my time and energy into my foundation and it's something I'll always have and will always try to help make bigger and stronger. You can learn more at www.ivanschoice.org."

According to Turner, the Pirates will take on Irvine Valley on Wednesday night and all gate proceeds will go directly to Ivan's foundation. "I have learned more from this kid than any I have ever coached," Turner said. "His insistence on being part of the team, regardless of how hard it is, is inspiring. It's impossible for any of us to put ourselves in his shoes and grasp how important this is to him."

After leaving such an impact at Orange Coast College, how would Garcia-Burgos like to be remembered for his tenure with the Pirates? "I want to be known as a person who worked as hard as anyone else and had no excuses to get to where he wanted to get to," Garcia-Burgos said. "I was given an opportunity at Orange Coast … I took it … and I was able to move on with my life.

"Before I got sick, I was a typical young man. I was a bit selfish and I was someone who didn't worry too much about today or the future. But after going through what I went through, you become a stronger person and you put others ahead of yourself. When I was sick, people put me ahead of themselves. There's a man in Florida (29-year-old Carlos Vallejo), who didn't know me and he donated the bone morrow that saved my life. The doctors and nurses who worked so hard to keep me going, they put me ahead of their own lives. Now it's my turn to do that. I want to inspire others to go to school and be able to accomplish everything they want to accomplish. If I can do this, you can too."