Meet two-time terminal cancer survivor Sean Swarner.
His first goal was to crawl 8 feet from the hospital bed to the bathroom. He went on to climb the highest point on every continent (including Mt. Everest), skied to both the North and South Poles, and completed the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii – all with one lung.
Sean was diagnosed with two deadly, different, and unrelated forms of cancer, once at the age of thirteen and again at the age of sixteen, where he was given only 3 months and then 14 days to live, respectively. He was in a coma for a year and lost the function of his right lung. However, Sean astounded the medical community when he survived both these deadly diseases and realized that after defeating cancer twice, no challenge would ever be too great, no peak too high, and no obstacle too difficult.
Always inspiring, his goal is to take a million people touched by cancer on a flag into space, to change peoples’ perspectives on possibilities, uniting humanity and the globe – shining light in a world of darkness.
Sean says,
2017 was an amazing year and I’m grateful for the completion of the Explorer’s Grand Slam (highest mountain on every continent and the North and South Poles), and completing something no other person in history has ever accomplished.
But it was more than that.
What meant the most was taking a flag that had thousands of people touched by cancer to the top of the world – the North Pole.
The struggles people endure, the hardships people face, but within it all, there remains one common thread … HOPE!
Losing hope can easily mean death when you’re fighting for your life, and I want to encourage people battling for survival to never give up.
Sean Swarner was voted one of the top 8 most inspirational people in history and was the recipient of the Don’t Ever Give Up Award presented by the Jimmy V Foundation and ESPN. Sean is the only person in history to climb Everest, the highest mountain on every continent, ski to both Poles and complete the Hawaii Ironman triathlon.
He only has one lung. Sean is a two-time cancer survivor who was first diagnosed at age 13 with Hodgkin’s Disease and later with Askin’s sarcoma. He was given just 14 days to live and is the only person in the world to ever have been diagnosed with both these deadly cancers. Sean told ESPN Radio‘s Bob Valvano, brother of Jimmy, that he would have been more likely to win the lottery four or five times with the same numbers than to have survived both these terminal cancers.
However, he did survive, although he has only one fully functioning lung.
Sean was featured on ESPN (July 27, 2007) with a 10-minute segment on his life story and struggle. Amazon recently posted a film about his recent expedition to the North {ole. He established his own foundation (The Cancer Climber Association) which promotes cancer awareness and completely funds a survivor’s trip to Africa. He also authored his book Keep Climbing, which recounts his story and journey from the depths of his near death experience to the peaks he climbed to reach the top of the world 17 years later. Other books include his 7 Summits to Success series, empowering others to their best.
On April 11, 2017, Sean completed a trek to the North Pole.
On May 16, 2002, Sean summited Mount Everest.
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