Inspirational Stories

My name is Bryan, but most know me by my stage name Hennessy Williams. I was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin Burkitt lymphoma (BL) on July 1st, 2005. I was 20 years old.  It was the hardest battle I ever faced, I am lucky to be here, I am lucky to be alive. I am alive because I had a tremendous amount of support from my family and friends, not everyone is blessed with this option. This is why I want to get as many donations as I can for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) so that others will get to feel the support that I did.

Fighting cancer as a college student was the hardest battle I ever faced. Today, I am completely fearless and I will not back down to any challenge as long as I’m here. 

Now I am married have 3 kids of my own and I remember where I came from. Leukemia and lymphoma is a battle that many will face will face and LLS is at the forefront of helping them fight.  

This past summer 18 years after my bout with stage 4 non-Hodgkin Burkitt lymphoma (BL) began I got to experience my dream of performing at the US National Air Guitar Championships and The World Air Guitar Championships. Most importantly, I was able to raise over $7,000 for LLS.

I was able to compete in the World Dark Horse Championships for a spot in the World Finals and I finished tied for 3rd! At the World Finals I placed 12th, so for the year 2023 you can say Hennessy Williams was the 12th ranked Air Guitarist in the world! The place I took in the Air Guitar World Championships never mattered, it was the experience and that was amazing. The theme was dream big and I realized big dreams this summer. Thank you to Kardia Transport and SimVentions for their generous donations to my cause and thank you all members of LLS team that helped provide me the opportunity to realize these dreams and dream even bigger!

The Hennessy Experience is a result of my ordeal with cancer.  Someone whom knew that every day should be cherished and you should strive to achieve the goals you set and live life to the fullest.  Air Guitar, comedy, and parenting allows me to do that.  US Air Guitar came into my life and completely changed it, I met people I had commonality with yet many came from completely different walks of life.  I want others to get to live the life I have after cancer, I want them to have that opportunity.