Casto Domínguez is a musician, father of five, husband to Pili, and a man who has walked with a cane since adolescence. In this episode of the Rebeldes podcast, he shares his story with disarming sincerity: a bone cancer diagnosis at 17, half a femur removed, permanent aftereffects, apparent sterility after chemotherapy… and yet, a life today overflowing with joy, family love, and a faith he describes as a growing “love affair” with Jesus Christ.

The diagnosis that changed everything

At 17, Casto was “a complete brat.” Leg pain, a biopsy, and then the news in a waiting room: “You have cancer.” Six months of chemotherapy, surgery to remove half of his femur and a prosthesis, another six months of treatment. He lost 40 kg, vomited blood, and spent days hooked up to machines. His first reaction was to ask that no one find out: “We live in a society of appearances and perfection; I was ashamed to be sick.”

However, looking back, he states emphatically: “Illness doesn’t take anything away from you. It gives you maturity, it forces you to put things in their proper perspective.”

From ashamed cripple to “happy cripple”

For over twenty years he rejected his limp. At concerts, he asked that his cane not be seen in the videos; he hid his prosthesis. A few years ago, he changed radically: he accepted his cross. “Since I accepted my cross, the Lord hasn’t stopped giving me one grace after another.” Today he declares himself “in love with my cane” and proudly presents himself as “a happy cripple.” In his talks, he asks: “Is there anyone here without a cross?” No one raises their hand.

The miracle of broken sterility

After being diagnosed with cancer, he was told he was sterile. His sperm was frozen before treatment, but subsequent tests confirmed: zero chance. When he met Pili, she had a deep desire to be a mother. They married knowing this.

One day, Pili went with Casto’s mother to a convent of Discalced Carmelite nuns in Seville that housed a cloak belonging to Saint Teresa of Ávila. They placed the cloak on her, prayed… and shortly afterward, without any treatment, Pili became pregnant. Their first daughter is named Teresa. More came later. Today they have five children (and Casto jokes that the Lord has told him a sixth is coming).

Pili answered him one night, when he asked her incredulously how she had married a barren man: “After everything I’ve been through in my life, I knew that the Lord was not going to take away what I loved most.”

Success according to Casto: “The number of tears they will shed when you are gone”

For him, success isn’t measured in money, records, or fans. “Success is directly proportional to the number of tears people will shed when you’re gone. You can’t take the rest with you.”

He insists: at work you’re replaced in 24 hours; at home you’re irreplaceable.

The fishbowl: emptying itself so that God can enter

He uses a powerful analogy: “We are all like a fishbowl with limited capacity. If you fill it with things (criticism, alcohol, pornography, ego, posturing), you don’t leave room for the Lord to enter and fill you with something better.”

Saint John the Baptist said it best: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Advice to your teenage self (and all of us)

If I could speak to my 16-year-old self, before the cancer, I would tell him: “Grow up sooner. The Lord loves you very much and is waiting for you. Don’t go down dark paths. And find Pili as soon as possible… don’t wait until you’re 31.”

Casto concludes with a phrase that sums up his entire story: “The closer I am to the Lord, the happier I am.”

A rebel of the world became a rebel of God. And from there, with a cane, a guitar, and five children, he continues to sing and testify that the cross, when embraced, ceases to weigh… and becomes a gateway to immeasurable grace.