Seven-year Tour de France champion and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong visited campus last Tuesday as part of a four-city tour to raise awareness and funds for the fight against cancer.
Armstrong came to DU for LIVESTRONG Day, the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s (LAF) annual nationwide mobilization of its many supporters, which took place during more than 600 simultaneous events in all 50 states on May 13.
Approximately 750 people attended the event, which was held in Driscoll Ballroom, and many more were able to view it through a live video stream on the DU Web site, said Kerrie Rueda, assistant director of Campus Activities
The event began with five guest speakers who shared stories about themselves as cancer survivors and discussed relatives’ battles with cancer. Among them was Academic Advisor Kerry McCaig, and Sylvester Houston, a professor at the Daniels College of Business.
McCaig is a four-time cancer survivor, who was diagnosed with bladder cancer 10 years ago.
“I was about to go to Mt. McKinley to climb, but my doctors immediately said no. I insisted, because I had things to do,” McCaig said.
McCaig did climb Mt. McKinley, Alaska’s highest peak, after she was diagnosed. However, when she returned to Anchorage, Alaska and visited nearby cardiologists, they asked her how she managed to survive.
“I simply told them I had things to do,” McCaig said.
McCaig was diagnosed with bladder cancer three more times, but she continued to climb mountains in Ecuador, and finally Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa.
“Whatever your gifts or talents are, no one can predict when your last moments are over. You all have things to do, so you’ve got to do them, and you’ve got to live strong,” McCaig said.
Professor Houston shared a story about his indirect experiences with cancer.
Four of his family members died as a result of various types of cancer. The last to pass away was Houston’s brother and “hero,” who died of lung cancer in 1998.
“If any of you in this audience ever light up a cigarette, you should be ashamed,” Houston said through tears.
There are simple, common sense ways to maintain good health, Houston said. Examples are getting tested for testicular and breast cancer regularly and avoiding harmful recreational activities such as smoking.
“Some things are avoidable, you can ameliorate them, decrease the chances of them happening. I want to honor all those who are here today, especially our survivors. Their stories give us all inspiration,” Houston said.
After a suspenseful delay in the event due to flight scheduling, Armstrong took the stage with sophomore DU student Kali Smith, a 14-year leukemia survivor.
Armstrong discussed how his purpose at DU was to “talk about young people and their ability and need to vote, to demand change from our leaders.”
Armstrong saidB he remembered leaving the Indianapolis hospital in 1996, where he was treated for testicular cancer, when the doctor told him he had “the obligation of the cured.” According to Armstrong, the doctor told him he could do one of two things: either live his life as a private person and refuse to share how devastating cancer was to him, or he could live out the rest of his life as a cancer survivor and share his story.
In a press conference following the event, Armstrong briefly discussed the disparities among healthcare coverage for cancer patients. Armstrong said he believes healthcare should be universal.
“The health-care crisis is more of an issue of fairness. All too often there are disparities in cancer care, and I believe we should be better than that. We deserve the best careB no matter who we are,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong answered a written question from an 8-year-old girl named Emma, a cancer patient at the Children’s Hospital who wrote, “What advice do you have when things go bad?”
“It is my dream to never have to answer that question from an 8-year-old girl again, because I hope that cancer will be cured. She should, however, rely on her friends and family, and know that based on the latest odds she’ll survive and go on to be a student, mother, and active citizen,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong also stated he is registered as an independent and is not going to be endorsing any candidate in the election.
Rueda, who organized the event, said she believed LIVESTRONG Day was an “important event to have on the DU campus.”
“I think it takes someone with a remarkable story to make people listen, but the person has to be someone you can relate to first. Having met Lance while he was on campus, I can say that is just a regular guy living with extraordinary circumstances,” Rueda said.
According to a press release from the LAF, organizers were hoping to “capitalize on the unusual level of local involvement in this year’s Presidential election, which Foundation officials believe provides a unique opportunity to educate voters about the critical role national and state policies play in defeating cancer.”
For more information about the LAF, visit www.livestrong.org.
