Students who ride the West End Route on Elon's BioBus might be wondering why they're seeing a familiar face less often. That's because Bill Huff, the friendly bus driver that greets every student with a smile and a warm hello, was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer in February 2013.
Since then, Huff has had to cut back on how many hours he works.
"Sometimes I get off work and I hurt," Huff said. "And I go home and I'm just wore completely out."
Despite chemotherapy treatments every other week, Huff continues to work and drives his route on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and every other Monday.
His doctor wanted him to stop working completely, but Huff says that driving the bus has been his best therapy.
"He wanted me to stay at home and sit in a chair," Huff said. "And I told him 'No, no, no, no!'"
But the driving isn't the only thing keeping him going. Huff said it's the kind words from students that have helped him in his fight against cancer.
"You could give me a million dollars," Huff said. "It means more to me what the students tell me."
Nine months after his diagnosis, the cancer in his pancreas has shrunk but has spread to his lungs. He's waiting to hear from his doctor how serious it is, but no matter what the results are, Huff refuses to stop fighting.
"That's what I'm trying to do, to not give up and to stay strong," Huff said. "I'm trying to beat this. I want to beat this. To me, it doesn't have control over me, I have control over it and that's just the way I feel."
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