- [Presenter] Clay Gilley is a senior at Moody High School.

He has a 3.8 GPA.

Clay is a member of the National Junior Beta Club, the National Beta Club, Mu Alpha Theta, the National English Honor Society, and Sigma Delta Pi.

- As soon as I received the email about the Young Heroes, I didn't even really have to stop to think about it.

I went to my principal, and I said, "Hey, I got this, and I wanna nominate Clay."

- When I was seven years old, I was diagnosed with aplastic anemia.

Aplastic anemia is a disease in which your T cells, which fight off viruses in your body, attack all your blood cells and kill them all off.

So I took oral chemotherapy for about eight years of my life.

When I was 15 years old, I went to Wisconsin to have a bone marrow transplant, and I had to stay in isolation for a whole year, which was really rough.

Now, I joined a cross-country team my junior year of high school, and I also ran cross-country in my senior year of high school, and then I also joined the tennis team my senior year of high school, which was really fun, and I've also focused on academics and taken AP chemistry this year.

In the most difficult times I faced, I coped mostly by praying and writing in my prayer journal every single night and then having my friends call me and talk to me.

That helped a lot too.

In the future, I plan to major in chemistry at the University of North Alabama, and then I want to go to medical school and pursue a career in pediatric hematology.

- [Presenter] For his courage and commitment to success despite the obstacles in his path, Clay is recognized by his school and our state as one of the five 2021 Alabama Young Heroes.

For more information on Clay and the other 2021 APT Young Heroes, visit aptv.org/heroes.