Dancing for Gold® 2025

Corey Howard was born, raised, and currently resides in McCracken County, Kentucky. Most of Corey’s childhood was what one would describe as normal consisting of spending time with friends, family, riding dirt bikes, and flying his beloved model airplanes.

 It was 2005 while a freshman at the former Heath High School, that he started noticing discomfort in his left ankle when running track during gym class. That discomfort soon turned into worsening pain and swelling which resulted in further evaluation. Corey’s symptoms were initially thought to be the result of a severe sprain which would initially improve with crutches and medication. Then symptoms then returned and Corey was referred to an orthopedic surgeon, which is when the MRI was ordered that would change his life forever. To everyone’s shock the MRI indicated a sinister looking mass growing inside his left heel bone.

A surgical biopsy performed on May 2, 2005, confirmed the mass to be high-grade osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer. Corey would undergo a year of near continuous treatment at Monroe Carrol JR Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, consisting of inpatient chemotherapy, an unsuccessful limb salvage surgery, and eventually the amputation of his left leg below the knee.

Corey has been considered cancer free and off treatment since May 2006, and he has vowed to never stop moving forward in life.

Corey started his career as an emergency responder with the West McCracken Fire Department in 2007. Shortly after, he obtained his KY EMT license at which time he began working for Mercy Regional EMS in Paducah, KY. Corey has held a position as a Firefighter/EMT at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant since 2009, completed his Fire/Rescue Science Degree, and is still serving his community as a Lieutenant with the West McCracken Fire Department.

Corey’s line of work and most importantly his wife Hilary, Son Caden, and Daughter Jacqueline mean the world to him, as they all represent major milestones in life he was unsure he would ever enjoy or achieve.

It is Corey’s belief that while there is hope with today’s treatments, we must continue the search for more effective options that result in substantially less unwanted side effects. Corey longs to see the day we battle cancer with certainty instead of in terms of statistics.