Keeping Hope Alive

He was invincible. He was very stern but yet so tenderhearted. He was the head coach of the Bruce High School Trojan football team. Like I said, he was invincible. In 1994, he developed a cough that would not go away like all the rest. This was no cough resulting from the nemesis called allergies or a simple cold acquired from the hundreds of people he mentored on a daily basis. When the gavel came down, the doctor said cancer. Fast forward14-years, he’s now cancer-free. The man described above is my father, Darrell Logan. The lesson he now passes to many who revel in his zest for life is hope. A lesson appreciated from the many who cross his path daily.

Athletes, both professional and amateur, are faced with many of the same circumstances. For every positive outcome from the disease, there is a negative. With the advancement of medicines and technology, studies and treatments have reached all time levels.

In 1985, Andres Galarraga was at the top of his game. A newly draftee for the Montreal Expos, the man commonly known throughout baseball as “the big cat” was etching his name as one of Major League baseball’s elite first basemen. While playing for the Atlanta Braves in 1999, Galarraga went to the doctor with back problems. The result was a Non-Hodgkins lymphatic tumor. He didn’t stop playing. He didn’t quit. In fact, following the grim diagnosis, Galarraga headed to the Aflac Cancer Center Service for Children in North Atlanta to mentor to the children. He was quoted as saying that was the best medicine money could buy. Following numerous rounds of chemotherapy treatment, Galarraga is now cancer free. He retired from baseball in 2005 while with the New York Mets organization and continues to shine a positive light to everyone he comes in contact with..

Similar to Galarraga, another ball player was fulfilling a dream. San Francisco Giants pitcher Dave Dravecky took to the mound in 1988. After defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1, Dravecky felt sharp pain in his left arm. His pitching arm no less. Doctors removed a cancerous tumor embedded in his deltoid muscle, while another surgery would see his arm amputated because of a severe staph infection caused by radiation to alleviate the cancer. Rather than let the dreaded disease get the best of him, Dravecky and his wife, Jan, founded Dave Dravecky’s Outreach of Hope. He now travels throughout the nation and speaks to numerous groups on faith and hope. Dravecky is now cancer free.

Success stories are not uncommon throughout the sports world. Lance Armstrong, founder of Livestrong, Inc., was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996. The seven-time winner of the Tour De France chose to begin his organization to both inform and create a format to reach out to other survivors. His company, partnered with Nike, has raised over $250 million dollars since its inception in 1996. A representative for the company said they haven’t even scratched the surface.

Soon, Calhoun County supporters will gather at the city square in Bruce for the annual Relay for Life to celebrate the ones who have fallen to cancer, the ones who have conquered it and the people who are living daily with the disease. As each survivor walks a lap around the square with each of their families, the word “hope” is spelled out nearby with lighted bags called luminaries. While talking about racial strife, Reverend Martin Luther King once said, “Keep hope alive.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.