Fuller Goldsmith, 16, who is a former Chopped Junior champion, is back to cooking after undergoing his fourth blood cancer treatment.
Goldsmith, who also competed on Top Chef Junior, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at the age of 3.
In a recent interview with Seattle Children’s Hospital, Goldsmith said he is back in the kitchen and working to pursue his dream of being a professional chef once again.
He participated in a cancer immunotherapy clinical trial for ALL. He learned that his cancer returned for the fourth time in late 2018. His oncologist in Alabama urged him to go for experimental chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy.
His mother, Melissa Goldsmith, said, “It was scary hearing the cancer had returned especially since at first, we didn’t think we had any options. It was really encouraging to know there was another option out there and this wasn’t the end of the line.”
Melissa said the family had to spend a couple of months in Seattle, where Fuller received his CAR T-cell immunotherapy.
Fuller recalled, “With the T cells, I got to go back to our apartment every night and pretty much got to go outside whenever I wanted. It wasn’t like with the transplant where I was in the hospital for months on end.”
Melissa said while undergoing treatment, Fuller’s passion for food reignited and he used to visit seafood stalls at Pike Place Market.
She said, “He was such a regular at Pike Place that they all got to know him and would call him chef.”
Fuller is now in remission and plans to attend culinary school.
Fuller’s oncologist Dr. Rebecca Gardner said, “It’s really rewarding to see kids like Fuller who are so driven toward their dreams that they don’t let cancer stand in their way. They are undeterred in their desire to have a future.” Fuller has been documenting culinary creations on his social media accounts amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, sharing photos of several pasta dishes.
