He was given fourteen days to live. That was thirty years ago.
At thirteen, Sean Swarner was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. At sixteen, a second and entirely unrelated cancer — Askin’s sarcoma — arrived with a fourteen-day prognosis. The treatment that saved him took most of one lung.
In 2002 he became the first cancer survivor to stand on the summit of Mount Everest. He kept going: the highest peak on all seven continents, then sixty-mile treks to both poles — the first cancer survivor to complete the Explorer’s Grand Slam.
Now he runs the Great World Race: seven marathons, on seven continents, in one week. With one lung.
He does not run alone. Sean carries a flag covered in handwritten names — people affected by cancer in this small world. The ones still fighting. The ones who didn’t get to finish. It goes wherever he goes, and it crossed every one of those seven finish lines with him. And knowing he’s doing it for those touched by cancer pushes him toward every finish line.
