At the age of six years old, D. Anthony Evans was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis–a rare condition where tumors grow on nerve tissue without any notice. Doctors believed he would be blind by the time he was eighteen and would develop far slower than his peers. D. Anthony has had hundreds of tumors removed from his body, in the years since his initial diagnosis, including a two-pound tumor located on his back.

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​Within the NF community, D. Anthony noticed that while there were survivors, there didn’t seem to be many “thrivers.” In his own words, “The cancer in me is not gone; we’ve just made an agreement. I’m not going to put anything in my body to irritate it and it’s going to allow me to look like this [a lack of visible tumors] and thrive and live my life.” Wanting to thrive–as in, making the most of life–D. Anthony opted to not take up chemotherapy for his recovery. Instead, he adopted a whole-food, purely plant-based lifestyle.