At first it was a proverbial feel-good story, An athlete comes back from a near fatal illness to return to his sport. Then he becomes a champion, winning the sports biggest event, something he couldn't do before becoming ill. And when he triumphs again and again and again - SEVEN times in all - he writes one of the greatest sports stories of all time.
The athlete is LANCE ARMSTRONG and the event is Tour de France, a three week long cycling race that covers more than 2000 miles. It consists of mountain stages through the Alps and Pyrenees mountains (Now that is near the limits of human endurance). the tour is consideres the most demanding, debilitating and gruelling sports event in the world. Lance Armstrong was not even good enough to complete the tour, let alone win it!! That is until cancer almost cost him his life.
Diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 25, Lance’s life not only changed, it almost ended. The cancer also spread to his lungs and brain. Doctors felt that he had only 15% chance of surviving and absolutely no chance of ever riding a cycle again. But he fought back. He was just not ready to give up.
The commonly used chemotherapy drugs would cause damage to the patient’s lungs. To prevent this, his doctors used a combination of drugs that would not damage his lungs but at the same time reduced its effectiveness. But Lance did not want to live a life in which he could not compete on his bike.
Even God must have been humbled by his determination. Miraculously, the combination of drugs worked and his body was declared cancer free. Before cancer, former champions had commented that Lance Armstrong would never win tour de France due to his weight even though he was extremely fit. This was true as he always struggled in the mountain stages. But post cancer, his body had lost weight which ultimately became a blessing in disguise.
To quote Lance’s words “this illness is the best thing that ever happened to me. I would never have won Tour de France if I hadn’t had cancer. No doubt”.
His first Tour victory in 1999 was miraculous enough, but from there he went on to dominate the event as no one had before. People had trouble believing that one of those riders had been a cancer patient. So obviously people started accusing him of doping. He must have been tested for banned substances more times than any other athlete and he never was tested positive. He went on to win seven straight tours before his retirement after 2005 race.
Lance Armstrong has not only been an incredible athlete, but an inspiration to cancer patients and survivors the world over. The creation of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and his trademark LIVESTRONG yellow bracelets are just two of the ways he helps inspire people and raise money for cancer research. His foundation also focuses on spreading knowledge about cancer symptoms so that it can be diagnosed early. He himself had not known the symptoms which had worsened his condition. He does not want others to make the same mistake. With all his great athletic achievements, Lance Armstrong has always been about giving back
Even today Lance Armstrong considers himself first and foremost a cancer survivor. To that end, he continues to inspire countless others, both directly and indirectly, and in that respect has become not only a sports icon, but a true hero.
Just think for a second, we always get depressed and lose hope when obstacles occur in our journey of life, these obstacles are nothing when compared to what Lance achieved. Life is full of obstacles, facing it with your head up is what makes one’s life successful. There are no boundaries for what one can achieve. To quote Phil Jackson , NBA basketball coach, “Never underestimate the heart of a true champion”.
Checkout the video at this link..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi7sPSOTErY&eurl=http://www.orkut.com/FavoriteVideoView.aspx?uid=7306755346642335167&ad=1201463345&uit=/Home.aspx
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