Dannyka Manangan

K-pop soloist Evan reveals he battled cancer as a child

Article (news)

E. Kristhoff Cagape

Push Team

<p>K-pop soloist Evan, formerly known as Heeseung of ENHYPEN, opened up about battling cancer as a child.</p><p>In an interview with Weverse Magazine, the K-pop star revealed that he was in grade school when he was diagnosed with the condition.</p><p>&quot;I think it&rsquo;s time I talked about this. I haven&rsquo;t brought this up since I became a singer, but in fourth grade, I was diagnosed with malignant lymphoma,&quot; he revealed.</p><p>Evan recalled the incident that eventually led to his diagnosis.</p><p>&quot;I kept coughing, and at first I just figured it was a cold and didn&rsquo;t think much of it, but then when I was playing soccer, I took four or five steps and suddenly couldn&rsquo;t breathe. I found out at the hospital later that it was cancer,&quot; he relayed.</p><p>He admitted that going through treatment at such a young age was difficult but said seeing his mother constantly care for him motivated him to stay strong.</p><p>&quot;The treatment process wasn&rsquo;t easy, but when I saw how my mom took care of me nonstop, I wanted to put on a brave face for her,&quot; he recalled. &quot;When the hospital held events like talent shows for the patients, I&rsquo;d play guitar and even host them. I dreamed of being a singer ever since I was six, but to be honest, back then I didn&rsquo;t really have the mental bandwidth to even think about that.&quot;</p><div><br></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DanJHXKkQzj/embed/?cr=1&v=14&wp=540&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A5435879.3%2C%22ls%22%3A5435335.199999999%2C%22le%22%3A5435658.8%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="925" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background: white; max-width: 540px; width: calc(100% - 2px); border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219); box-shadow: none; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 12px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px;"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br></div><p>The singer also recalled witnessing other young patients lose their lives while he was undergoing treatment.</p><p>&quot;I&rsquo;d watch my friends pass away and kept thinking, &#39;I want to live so badly, I want to go home.&#39; Thankfully I made it through treatment and got to go on with my life,&quot; he recounted.</p><p>However, returning to school and adjusting to life after treatment came with another set of challenges.</p><p>&quot;But fitting back in with my friends wasn&rsquo;t easy. I had a lot less energy, and since my hair was still growing back from chemo, I got teased a lot for it. My friends would be like, &#39;What is that, grass? You&rsquo;re like a monk.&#39; But I just took it because I wanted to fit in. Once I got to middle school, I had some good friends, but I wasn&rsquo;t as outgoing as before. I became more of an introvert. I haven&rsquo;t thought about that in a long time. It hurts to bring it back up,&quot; he shared.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/music/2026/8/11/korean-singer-evan-to-release-1st-ep-death-of-me-in-september-1116"><strong>READ: Korean singer Evan to release 1st EP &#39;Death Of Me&#39; in September</strong></a></div><p>When asked whether the experience continues to shape what he expresses through his music today, Evan said it has influenced the message behind his new songs.</p><p>&quot;There&rsquo;s a line in &#39;Noise,&#39; one of the tracks on the mini album, that goes, &#39;Trust me / Know I&rsquo;m able / Take it slow / Ain&rsquo;t no trouble / Don&rsquo;t give up dawn til night.&#39; I wanted to use the start of my music under the name Evan to tell people that good days do eventually come around. When I sing on &#39;Death of Me,&#39; the lead single, that this &#39;ain&rsquo;t the death of me,&#39; it comes from a place of having actually gone right up to the edge of death myself. No matter how far down I went, I felt over and over that it was never really the end. I hope EVER hears that message and finds some hope in it.&quot;</p><p>Evan is set to release his debut Extended Play (EP) <em>Death of Me</em> on September 7.</p>

<p>Evan revealed that he was in grade school when he was diagnosed with the malignant lymphoma.</p>

Evan revealed that he was in grade school when he was diagnosed with the malignant lymphoma.