Former nurse battling cancer continues to give back

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A local nurse who gave so much to others over the years is now fighting for his life.

Steve Yacoub was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in 2020. He became a nurse to help people. Even in his time of need, he continues to do what he can for others.

Yacoub was a nurse at Geneva General Hospital for over a decade. He was given the horrible news during the peak of the pandemic. Almost three years later, he continues to wake up and fight to uphold his families slogan, “Never Surrender”.

In April 2020, while working at the hospital, Yacoub became sick. What he thought was stress from the pandemic and patient influx. It ended up being something he never expected.

“Finding out that I have cancer, go figure, I have a home gym, I work out eat good, but it doesn’t matter, anyone can get it,” Yacoub said.

Steve had stage 4 colon cancer. He says chemo helped him to get rid of the cancer in his colon but now it’s traveled through the rest of his body. 6 months after his diagnosis, continuing his passion as a nurse, he got a letter in the mail from the hospital.

“Saying they could legally let me go, they didn’t want anyone working from home, even though I was doing some good stuff.”

This was not a death sentence for Yacoub. Even though he couldn’t be a nurse, he found other ways to change lives. He started a podcast called “Cancer Hope with Coach Steve”. He also created home gym with his son Zach, to train people.

“He doesn’t charge them anything, he gives people his time, he’s their coach,” Zach Warner said, Yacoubs son.

Steve’s wife, Amy says the second they met they knew they were soul mates. At one point doctors told them Steve needed hospice care, but that didn’t seem right. She has a message to other families also battling cancer.

“He is here because we got seconds opinions so that’s a big message we want to send to others to don’t be afraid to say that doesn’t seem right,” Amy said.

“The hard part is you get knocked down, but you have to just keep getting up and keep fighting,” Steve added.

Steve shuffles between three cancer centers, one in NYC, Syracuse, and Rochester. For anyone wanting to donate to help cover costs, here is his family’s Go Fund Me.

On December 20th his family is hosting an event called “Steve’s Fight”, at 6 p.m. inside BTB Wood Fired Pizza Bar and Grill.