Ashley Park Survived Leukemia—Now, She's Helping Others Do The Same
During the first semester of her sophomore year in high school, broadway and Emily in Paris star Ashley Park felt like she could no longer keep up with her bustling life. She had always been very active, with extracurriculars filling her schedule, but all of a sudden she felt her breath giving out on her when she danced dance, and noticed she couldn't walk fast enough to make it to class. Being 15, she assumed these changes were part of puberty and fought through it. When huge purple bruises began appearing all over her body while performing in her school's production of High School Musical, she chalked it up to clumsiness.
Finally, she went to the doctor and found out she had acute myeloid leukemia. "You never guess that it's cancer," Park says, explaining her shock.
Throughout her treatment, Park relied heavily on blood and platelet transfusions. "I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for people donating blood," she says. That's why she chose to partner with global health and blood screening leader Abbott on its blood donation campaign with the Big Ten Conference. While over 100,000 students have donated in the past few years, she recognizes that most donors never see their impact. She's trying to change that.
Eight months of isolation and daily transfusions
Park admits she's known to be the type of person who always insists she is okay, so she's grateful to the people who insisted she get checked by her pediatrician. When they found the cancer, it was close to being in her spine, which would have required much more invasive treatment.
As it stood, Park spent eight months in inpatient care. She went through six rounds of chemo, each lasting about a month or a little longer. "Your body basically shuts down after every round," Park explains. "The only way to build it back up is through blood transfusions." She received them every day until her red, white, and platelet counts were high enough to start the next round.
Chemotherapy leaves you immunocompromised, so Park was isolated throughout her treatment. "I was in a hospital room by myself," she says, with doctors and nurses, while her mom and grandma cared for her when they could. She described this time as being "incredibly lonely," and hard to process at such a young age. What helped was thinking about the strangers who showed up for her.
"The thought that hundreds of random people, probably in my community, took the time to donate blood and literally give part of themselves to me, it makes you feel a little less lonely," she says.
Refusing to be the sick girl
After missing a semester of school, Park went into remission. But life was different when she returned. Park was bald, still immunocompromised, and technically not supposed to go back to school yet, but she went anyway. The cancer was out of her body, and she says she was determined to not "let it affect my spirit, my mind, or my goals and ambitions."
That drive to not be defined as "the the sick girl in school" has stayed with Park. She believed it has defined her as an actor, performer, and person today, always refusing to be told that she is one thing.
"I'm not as fearful of challenges, and I know that there's a way through," she says, because she's already made it through moments when she didn't think she would.
How theater became her way back
Park's first musical after returning from cancer treatment was Thoroughly Modern Millie, and she performed in a wig made from her own hair. Looking back, she wonders whether part of theater's pull was that it allowed her to hide her recovering body behind a character's mask, wig, or costume. "Everybody was just so darn worried about me," she says, and stepping into another characters shoes helped her to shed that feeling.
Park grew up as a classical pianist and was a Michigan State Champion when she was young. She planned to study piano in college, but after months isolation, she started to question that path. She asked herself if she wanted to be rehearsing alone in a practice room or with a cast of people.
Theater won out. "It's not even about who I'm performing for," she says. "I'm constantly collaborating and getting to work with and have relationships with people around me."
After high school, she attended the University of Michigan's as part of their nationally recognized Musical Theatre program before pursuing a career in the arts. She made her Broadway debut in 2014, at the age of 23. She is widely known for originating the role of Gretchen Whitmer in Mean Girls on Broadway, and playing Mindy Chen in the TV show Emily In Paris.
Learning to listen to her body
Years into remission, Park says the most important way she stays proactive about her health is listening to her body, and it's a lesson that's taken a bit of time to stick.
In 2024, Park went into septic shock from a bad case of tonsillitis while on vacation. "I wasn't listening to my body at all," she says of the time. She was constantly pushing herself with the mindset of "I gotta make it to the next." These days, she focuses on really honoring her body, reminding herself that it's her instrument. She sticks with the basics, noting that getting enough sleep and drinking lots of water are the most important for her to feel good.
She also believes mental and emotional health can make a huge difference in any health journey. "At any time I've been sick or in a critical condition, it was never an occurrence to me that I might not make it," she says. Her question was always a different one: "how in the world am I gonna make it through this?" She believe the innate perspective she entered these situations with allowed her to have a level of resilience and determination that helped her recover physically.
Why young donors matter now
In July, the Red Cross announced that the U.S. had entered its second ever national blood supply shortage, with donations reaching a four-year summer low across the country. 25% of all blood donations are used by patients battling cancer, so this news hit close to home for Park, and she knew she had to get involved.
As a Make-A-Wish kid herself, Park has always been involved with philanthropic efforts, but blood donation feels different to her because it offers something uniquely tangible. You can leave a blood drive knowing you gave people something they need to survive.
That's why she teamed up with Abbott for their We Give Blood campaign with the Big Ten Conference, which brings together all 18 Big Ten universities for a competition to see who can donate the most blood this fall, with the winning school receiving a $1 million grant from Abbott.
As a University of Michigan alumna, Park sees what spirited college communities like hers can do when they come together. She is calling on all Big Ten fans, students, families, and alumni to sign up to donate blood for their school at BigTen.org/Abbott.
The takeaway
For Park, the few minutes of a stranger's time it took to donate blood added up to a second chance at the life and career she has now. While the process can feel anonymous, she is living proof of the impact it can have, for both physical recovery and mental resilience. Knowing other people wanted to be a part of helping her survive made her feel a little less alone. She hopes her advocacy with Abbott and the Big Ten will help put a face to that experience. to
Blood donations have to be on the shelf before anyone is in an emergency, so if you're eligible, book an appointment while you're healthy and bring a friend along. Anyone can donate at any U.S. blood center now through December 4 as part of this campaign and, if you want to log your donation, text GIVEBLOOD to 222688 or visit BigTen.org/Abbott to submit your donation.