Heroes

I define a hero as someone who's example gives you the strength to push yourself harder and accomplish things which you otherwise might not have accomplished.

Two of my major sports heroes are Walter Payton and Lance Armstrong. Both Lance and Walter were faced with cancer at different points in their careers.

When Walter learned that he had bile duct cancer of his liver the only curative procedure was for a transplant. He was offered the opportunity to move ahead on the donor lists due to his celebrity. He declined the offer because he did not want to keep a deserving patient getting the donor kidney they had waited for. Unfortunately, when Walter's donor kidney was ready he was no longer a viable transplant candidate. I am an organ donor and I would like to encourage everyone to sign up as a donor. In Oklahoma you can sign up online at this website http://www.oosn.com/

Lance's story is more well known due to his bestselling book "It's not about the Bike", which I highly recommend. He and I went through almost the same chemo regimen and dealt with the same hospital. After reading his book I decided to find out more about the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Which lead me to becoming active in the cancer community. I know that he has been challenged as much as any cancer survivor and fought back to not only with the Tour De France six times but to be the greatest cyclist ever. His story and his efforts as a cancer survivor have probably done more for the moral of the cancer survivor than any single person or event could have.