My Hero

First things first: this is not a teenybopper-gushing-over-Robbie-Williams type of article. This is an inspiring account of grit, guts and glory. The man in question is not very handsome, he was affected by terminal illness, and he's not only married but also a father to boot!

I am talking about the one and only Lance Armstrong: three times Tour de France winner, cycling champion, cancer activist and a great human being!

If you haven't heard of Lance Armstrong, it's because he keeps a low profile and does not hog the limelight like, say, a Michael Jordan or a Tiger Woods.

Lance Armstrong was born in Plano, Texas on 18 September, 1971. Right from a very young age he was a good athlete. He was 25 and at the peak of his career (he was the number one ranked cyclist at that time) when disaster struck in the form of testicular cancer. Not being a person prone to panic, he had earlier ignored symptoms like headaches, blurry vision and nagging pain in the groin. He'd continued practicing as usual for his forthcoming competition. Basically, he had been afraid of what the doctors might say, so he delayed his checkups. Alas, this decision of his was to cost him a lot in the future. Very soon, the illness spread to various parts of his body and his torturous experience with pain began. Massive lumps had formed in his lungs, abdomen and even in the brain. Most shocking, however, was the fact that his survival was rated at a 50/50 chance.

Strenuous chemotherapy sessions became a part of his daily schedule for three to four weeks. Despite the fact that his life was at stake, Lance did not give up his gruelling practice sessions. How easy it would have been to give up cycling and give in to self-pity. Instead, Lance chose the harder and more painful path and today he has no regrets whatsoever. During that phase, however, a hundred doubts assailed him. Were all these efforts worth it? Would he regain his lost stamina? Would he ever win a competition again? So on and so forth. Slowly but surely he banished all those doubts. He did regain his lost stamina, he did win not one but many more races after that. In July 2001, Lance won the Tour de France cycling championship for the third time in a row.

Winning a Tour de France championship is no mean feat because the cycling tour consists of 1 prologue and 21 stages over a distance of roughly about 3,850 kilometres. These stages are in turn composed of 12 stages, 2 mountain stages, 5 high mountain stages, 2 individual time trials, 2 high altitude finishes and 23 mountain climbs.

What is noteworthy is that after winning all these laurels and having made a journey to hell and back, Lance is not content to sit and rest now, but instead is actively involved in educating people about cancer and is helping victims become survivors.

There are quite a few people who overcome mental trauma through sheer grit and guts. However, overcoming extreme physical pain in addition to mental trauma after being struck with an illness like cancer, and mustering enough strength to participate in and winning a gruelling race like the Tour de France is a feat that is almost unequalled in the whole world. It is for this reason that Lance Armstrong is my special hero.