Photo © Courtesy of Iain Ward
March 11, 2023 · 4 min read.
Iain Ward is a 33-year-old who was told in 2020 that he had stage 3 brain cancer.
He was told he had five years to live and decided to spend his time raising money for charities. This is Ward’s story, as told to Lauren Crosby Medlicott.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Iain Ward. It has been edited for length and clarity. If it hadn’t been for a medical trial, I signed up for in 2019, I wouldn’t have known I had a brain tumor.
The prescreening for the trial required an MRI of the head.
Two weeks later, I had a phone call telling me I had a benign tumor. My first question was whether I could still participate in the trial. I was told no — that this was a serious medical condition and I couldn’t complete the trial.
I had been completely asymptomatic before the discovery, so it all surprised me.
A doctor informed me it was likely cancerous, as it had grown quickly since they found it. Even though I was scared at first, the doctor could tell I didn’t want sympathy but practical steps forward. I knew having a plan would take my mind off the problem. I decided to have a craniotomy.
I had stage 3 cancer
The doctors told me I would have speech problems for six to 12 months after the surgery, but six days later, my speech was normal again. I recovered so quickly because of my young age — the brain is able to adapt to damage far easier when you’re younger.
After my surgery, I was told I had stage 3 brain cancer. Estimating how long
I had to live was difficult, but they guessed anywhere between five and six years.
It wasn’t a huge surprise to me at this point but did make me reflect on what
I would do for the time I had left. Before I found out about the brain tumor,
I was working as a fitness instructor, but work seemed to dry up quickly after
I found out about the few years I had left to live. So I started throwing myself
into my TikTok channel, amassing over 4 million followers.
I wanted to do something meaningful.
Until I learned about my cancer, I hadn’t felt I had done anything massively meaningful. With only a few years left, I wanted to change that, and raising money for charity became my obsession, a challenge for me to focus on. The whole point of my channel is to raise money for cancer charities around the world and rally people to fight cancer, but I like to make it fun — to put glitter on the turd that is cancer. It quickly became fuller than a full-time job.
Photo © Courtesy of Iain Ward
I was still exercising, attempting to beat the world record for running a marathon, but had one experience about six months after surgery that surprised me. I had gone for a run and started to feel foggy, so I decided to slow down and push through, thinking it was just an issue I would need to learn to deal with. Next thing I knew, I was being woken up by a paramedic. I’d had a seizure.
After that, I knew I had to take breaks when I started to feel a sense of confusion while exercising. People said having cancer would make me more attractive to women.
But I knew that was nonsense. Dying soon isn’t an attractive quality, but being successful at something often is. So while I went through a dry spell, my romantic life has somewhat gone back to normal. I doubt I’ll end up married or even have a girlfriend. I think that’s a very hard sell. I’m an optimist, but I’m also a realist.
On St. Patrick’s Day,
I’m begin taking on another challenge — cycling across the US in 66 days.
I’ll start in New York City and head west to Los Angeles along Route 66.
I’m trying to set a world record while raising funds for November, when men grow moustaches to raise awareness of men’s health issues, because I love a challenge.
I’ve now got three years left to live, according to the estimate I was given.
It isn’t long, but I try not to think about it because it doesn’t serve a positive purpose
for me. I’m just trying to raise as much money as I can with the time I have left.
Read the original article on Insider
After being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, ‘The King Of Chemo’
decided to cycle across the US© Provided by CNN
• Story by Ben Church
When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2020, Iain Ward was sure about
one thing – he wasn’t interested in any “pity party.” Doctors had discovered a cancerous tumor growing in his brain after the Irishman had taken part in a voluntary medical trial and, after tests, he was told he had around five years left to live.
But speak to the 33-year-old now and you’ll hear a man with an enviable perspective on life; someone who has accepted his hand but who is determined to use it for good.
Since his diagnosis, Ward has dedicated his life to raising as much money as he possibly can and is currently cycling across the US with a friend, Adee Phelan, for mental health and cancer charities.
As well as the mammoth cycle ride – which Ward describes as a “gigantic commute” –
he wants to break the world record for most money raised by a single person running
a marathon and the fastest marathon dressed as a video-game character.
“I could get very upset about the bad poker hand that I’ve been dealt, but at the same time, it’s almost arrogant of me to not look at the other amazing poker hand that I’ve been dealt simultaneously,” he tells CNN Sport, adding that his cancer has given him clarity on life.
The pair, with a small support crew, set off from New York City last month and have estimated it will take them around two months to cover the 3,400 miles to Los Angeles, CA. Ward has been documenting moments of his journey on his social media channels, which have exploded in popularity in recent months.
‘The King Of Chemo’ has almost five million followers on TikTok,
where he posts motivational, and humorous, videos tracking his journey.
However, despite raising money for charity, Ward is not primarily looking for donations. Instead, he wants you to follow him on social media. That way, he can get corporations to pay him for advertising their products, which he then donates to charity.
“The priority is to just get a social media channel that is so huge that it’s undeniable, it cannot be ignored,” he says.
“I like to think it’s eventually going to become easy enough, almost like a robotic pitch, where you can just show the numbers and show the results and then I have a lot of money donated to cancer research.”
Despite his diagnosis, Ward says he appreciates the “freakish luck”
that has followed him throughout his life. That may seem like a jarring statement for a man with terminal cancer to say but Ward’s philosophy to life doesn’t allow him to dwell on the negatives.
He’s thankful that doctors were able to diagnose his illness before he experienced
any symptoms – after all, it’s what has allowed him to take on these challenges.
He says he’s also grateful to be part of the “elite club” to undergo and survive a craniotomy – a surgical procedure which removes a part of the bone from the skull to expose the brain.
There was also good fortune involved in how he ended up cycling across the US.
He had previously been looking to raise money for an epic run across the country when Phelan reached out to him via Instagram. Phelan suffers with depression and was planning to cycle across the US to raise money for mental health and suggested Ward join him for a week.
In their first meeting together, it became clear that the pair were going to tackle the whole challenge together instead – despite Ward admitting that he’s not a huge fan of cycling.
A fitness fanatic, who particularly enjoys weightlifting, Ward says he didn’t do much training for the feat but says he was aware of the main challenges that might present themselves.
“I hope this doesn’t sound arrogant, but I’m experienced enough to know that the hardest thing that we are going to do has nothing to do with your physical fitness ability,” he says, speaking about the trip.
“It’s going to be your tolerance of having a really sore bum, which you can’t train for.
“We probably aren’t going to be sweating a huge amount except for when we’re going
through the desert, when it gets closer to the summer.
“If we’re going to be doing like five hours a day, we’re not going to be going hard.
It’s going to be like a gigantic commute. It’s not going to be a race.”
After being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer,
‘The King Of Chemo’ decided to cycle across the US© Provided by CNN
Ward shows the scar on his head after undergoing a craniotomy. – Iain Ward.
Dark moments
A small documentary crew is following the pair throughout their trip and Ward, a natural in front of camera, is enjoying the process of filming. The goal is to sell the documentary, hopefully as a series to Netflix, which can then be used to raise even more money for charity.
Stops at the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas are still to come and Ward seems to be loving every minute, that much is clear from his videos on social media. But while he permeates an unrelenting optimism online, he admits there have been moments since his diagnosis when things have gotten too much – albeit fleeting.
He remembers the “negative emotions flushing over me” when the doctor told him the seriousness of his illness and occasionally gets a “slap in the face” when he finds himself reading about the life expectancy for people in his position.
But dwelling on such things is not an option for Ward, who is as adept at mastering his mind as much as his body. “I do put my head in the sand about the whole situation,” he admits.
“But I think I do that for a logical reason.
“I can’t just stare at a research paper and then change survival rates.
So, if I can’t change it, I don’t believe I should focus on it. Whereas there are
things that I can control, and I can change, and I choose to focus on those.”
After being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer:
‘The King Of Chemo’ decided to cycle across the US© Provided by CNN.
Ward says he didn’t do any specific cycling training before setting off on his journey.
Controlling his life. In his interview with CNN Sport, the concept of control becomes a thread throughout his answers. To a certain extent, his diagnosis stole control of his life, but Ward doesn’t want to become defined by his illness.
In those moments of solitude, when it’s just him and the bike, or just him and his footsteps, he has time to reflect on everything that’s been thrown his way.
“It’s about being able to go through the path that you choose in life,” he says,
agreeing that control is, in some ways, akin to freedom. “But sometimes your path in life is like a railroad,” he adds. “You just need to get on and whatever way you’ve gotten on it will naturally guide you in that direction as opposed to being in a car where you have the actual control of the steering wheel.
“I think actually that’s a fairly suitable metaphor.”
Ward has big plans once his cycle across the US is over. There is the small matter of breaking world records in marathon running and he also wants to, one day, circumnavigate the entire globe by manpower (cycling, running, walking) only. These are lofty plans by anyone’s standards, but Ward says he has the determination and enthusiasm to make them a reality. Ward has clearly plenty of life left to live.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Meet ‘The King of Chemo’: Man with terminal brain tumor out to break world records.
I was told I had 5 years to live. I’m spending my time raising money for charities.
Terminal Cancer Patient Wants to Raise the Most Money for Research
I learned to love running and feel stronger than ever. (msn.com)