`Magic boy' Chad Juros conjures for a cure, and for his life.

For nearly all his 19 years, Chad Juros has lived in the shadow of cancer and the light of magic. They have been the yin and yang of his existence.

As a young boy, he was diagnosed with leukemia and survived, getting through the chemotherapy, and the relapse, and the terrifying ill effects of brain radiation, through magic.

Not literally, of course - though the Egg Harbor Township child's recovery seemed miraculous to his parents at times, and certainly to him. Rather, the tricks his father taught him at his hospital bedside served as a distraction from the pain and nausea, then became a preoccupation. After his father died in 2000 at age 41, they provided a lifeline.

An accomplished magician, Chad, with his slight build and boyish face full of freckles and a disarming smile, has had a packed evening and weekend schedule of birthday parties and events for some time.

He makes enough to help pay expenses at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in Pomona, where he's a sophomore. He's thinking of a teaching career, in part because teachers get holidays and summers off, allowing time for magic.

But that's Plan B. His real quest is to take his razzle-dazzle show big-time, maybe a gig at an Atlantic City casino, CHAD JUROS up in lights.

And he just might accomplish that.

In 2006, he appeared on magician Criss Angel's MindFreak on the A&E Network and performed with Lance Burton. He also has entertained at the Easter Egg Roll at the White House and made appearances at Ronald McDonald Camps, Eagles Fly for Leukemia, and other charities. His resume has a long list of accomplishments (American Cancer Society's Courage and Inspiration Award, Philadelphia 76ers Hometown Hero Award) that recognize his fight against cancer and his sleight of hand.

"He definitely, for a person his age, has a lot of skill, a lot of dexterity," said mentor Joe Holiday, a professional magician from Absecon.

But what sets Chad the Magician apart, he said, is his motivation and drive. "You don't see that very often," Holiday said. "He eats, sleeps, drinks and breathes magic."

Holiday attributes the passion to the cancer. "Magic was a reason to live," he said. "It took his mind off all the negative going on in his life. It gave him the drive."

*

Chad was diagnosed with leukemia at 3 1/2 when a cold wouldn't go away.

"I remember just collapsing," said Penny Juros, 50, his mother and manager.