FOX 18 : KLJB/KGCW – Quad Cities: Davenport, Bettendorf,Area Singer Beats the Odds at American Idol Auditions

Area Singer Beats the Odds at American Idol Auditions

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Amber Hendricks has been singing for as long as she can remember.  "Since I could talk," she said. "I love singing."

That love is what's carried her through this past wild roller coaster ride of a year.  

"It sounds weird I'm thankful for cancer, but it made me who I am today."

Today-- she's a 26 year-old woman who has overcome odds stacked against her-- landing her in front of the producers of the hit FOX show American Idol.

But a year ago, Amber's life took a scary turn.  "I had stage 3 papillary carcinoma. I had three surgeries," she said. "I was told with all the damage to my throat and radiation therapy and all that I would not be able to sing anymore."

But undeterred-- Amber couldn't give up on her passion. With the help of a coach... she found her voice again. "When I want to do something I work hard to do it."

So when she heard about American Idol auditions in St. Louis-- she got to thinking.

"I was like what better chance than now? I had just been cleared of cancer two weeks before, just got my voice back," she said. "Maybe right now is the right time to do this."

Out of 11,000, she was one of just 110 people the judges picked for the next round. "They told me I had a good voice." But when she came back she learned her Idol ambitions would end there.  "Wasn't what they were looking for," she said.

But Amber knows she's already received the real golden ticket and nothing will make her forget it.  "After you go through fighting for your life, it's silly to think about all these petty things," she said. "You only get one chance at life so you got to make it count."