At 18, Ava Soliz is walking across the Texas Christian University campus and into a new chapter of her life, one she once feared might never be possible.
Two years ago, the young athlete was battling an aggressive form of bone cancer and facing a life-changing decision.
Soliz was diagnosed with osteosarcoma after months of unexplained pain in her left knee that began while playing high school basketball.
Doctors gave her two surgical options: a total knee replacement or an amputation above her left knee.
“I basically laughed in her face and told her, like, I’m not cutting my leg off. Like, you’re crazy,” Soliz recalled of her initial conversation with her surgeon.
But after learning the cancer had spread beyond the bone into surrounding tissue, she began to reconsider.
At 16, Soliz ultimately chose amputation to reduce the risk of leaving cancerous tissue behind.
“I’m 16 at this point. I have so much life ahead of me, and I would be crazy to risk that future,” she said.
Following surgery, Soliz underwent rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, where she learned to walk with a prosthetic leg. The recovery was physically and emotionally challenging, but she was determined to return to the sports she loved.
By her senior year of high school, Soliz was back on the golf course and competing in adaptive seated shot put, earning a silver medal at the state championships.
Dr. Vinay Vanodia, director of limb loss at TIRR Memorial Hermann, said watching her progress has been especially rewarding.
“This has been one of the most rewarding journeys as a physician to see her thrive from her diagnosis of cancer to the whole rehabilitation process, going through physical therapy, learning how to walk again, and now going to college,” Vanodia said.
Despite spending her junior year of high school in a hospital bed, Soliz graduated as salutatorian.
Now a freshman at TCU, she is studying biomedical sciences with plans to become a pediatric oncologist, inspired by the doctors who helped her through cancer treatment.
“I want to be able to be the person that my oncologist was to me to other kids,” she said.
Soliz hopes her experience encourages others facing limb loss to focus on what is still possible.
“Your life doesn’t depend on how many limbs you do or don’t have. It ultimately depends on what you make of it,” she said.
For Soliz, college is more than a fresh start. It is a chance to build a future defined not by cancer, but by everything she plans to accomplish next.
