Michael's Story

Michael Cuccione was born and raised in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, near Vancouver. When he was 9, he developed Hodgkin's Disease, a type of cancer attacking the lymph nodes (the organs in your body that flush out all the wastes). Thankfully the doctors at the Children's Hospital in B.C. cleared it away. Just when Michael thought he was good to go, 6 months later, the cancer came back, this time more fierce than ever, and spreading into his lungs. 6 months of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant followed. They cleared out the cancer, but since the cancer had been around his lungs and they had to treat the cancer fiercely, this left Michael with only 60% of his normal lung capacity.

While the treatments were going on, and while he was recooperating, Michael wrote songs to pass the time and pain. The songs he wrote were "Never Give Up," "Make A Difference," "Lock The Door," "When You Are Away," and "Don't Wanna Say Goodbye". He compiled the 5 songs onto a CD called Make A Difference and from there, started a foundation named Making A Difference. The CD and later a book that he co-wrote with his grandma called There Are Survivors: The Michael Cuccione Story helped to raise money for his charity.

With help from the Make-A-Wish foundation, Michael met Baywatch star David Hasselhoff and was immediately asked to play a part on the show. The episode was entitled "Charlie" where Mike played a real-life cancer patient, Charlie, who had passed away (in 1998) from thyroid cancer. David Hasselhoff and Michael became good friends afterwards and kept in touch. Also within this year, he met and was blessed by Pope John Paul II. Michael always said that this was the greatest accomplishment in his life - never the fame or fortune or girls that came along with 2Gether.

After a few years, Michael's agent called him up and told him about an MTV movie he just audition for, called '2Gether', about a boyband and the road to fame. He auditioned and quickly got a part. The movie '2Gether' became such a hit that it spawned 2 CDs (2Gether: The Soundtrack and 2Gether: Again), merchandise galore (find some at 2gether.ca), the 2Gether members gracing the pages of teen magazines, and later a television show. (Note: Coming soon for 2Gether fans - the movie on video, and a book! Pre-order now at amazon.com!)

As Michael's fame grew, his charity and the money raised for it also did. He soon raised $500,000 for cancer research and the Children's B.C. Hospital was able to hire a scientist to come to research finding a cure for cancer full-time. In 1997, he persuaded Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien to pledge a multi-million dollar grant towards developing a cancer cure. Money is being donated by everyone around the world who has heard of Michael's foundation.

Michael sincerely cared for people and always had a smile on his face, through good times and bad. He never complained about anything. His life motto was, "My life is great - what's there to complain about?"
"Parents would phone him at all hours asking him to talk to their child because he was so inspiring. He always encouraged us to not worry, to move forward and smile," says his uncle, Michael Cuccione.

But in late fall of 2000, problems started arising with his lungs. He started carrying a portable oxygen tank around the sets of 2Gether to use between takes. He had to even miss recording some episodes because he couldn't keep up with everything, and, Evan says, "because of lack of stamina". On December 4, he got into a minor car accident with his mom and was complaining of overall pain. He was brought in to the Children's B.C. Hospital and needed to be operated on to try to repair his diaphram. Over this period of time, he developed pneumonia and was put on a respirator (a machine that helps you breathe). Michael's spirit didn't bend during any of this. He was always smiling and was expected to make a full recovery. He even frequently gave his family thumbs-up signs, telling them that he was ok and not to worry. But he was becoming dependant on the respirator, and he was in pain.

Gloria, Michael's mother, finally turned to God for the answer of what to do. "You know what we want more than anything, but if he has to suffer, I want you to take him and let him have peace." On January 13, 2001, Michael Cuccione's lungs gave out. He was 16 tender years, living only 5 days after his 16th birthday. But he still is continuing to be an inspiration to thousand's of people's lives.

Way to go, Mikey. You definately lived a fulfilling life. RIP.

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