April Sampson

April Sampson was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, and was dragged to Columbia by her then fiancé, now husband, Eric (okay, maybe dragged is too strong of a word … how about “persuaded to move?”) in 1995, where she attended the USC School of Law. After getting married during Spring Break of her second year of law school, she learned on her last day of law school she was unexpectedly pregnant, so her career as an attorney began with her being 9 months pregnant. Since then, she does her best to juggle a career in criminal law, raising two independent, well-spoken girls (Summer, 17, and Lela, 11) without killing them for being so independent and well-spoken, and love a husband who manages to cook and clean better than she does, never breaking a sweat. In 2013, life threw her a curve ball when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 39. After a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation and three reconstructive surgeries, she is cancer-free and enjoying her ever-changing life, taking things one day at a time. She is currently working on a book about her cancer journey, Stand Your Ground, due to be released in winter of 2016.