An Essay About Lance Armstrong

By Conor Minogue, an 8-year-old cancer survivor

Publisher's note: Conor Minogue attends Holy Spirit School . He was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocyctic Leukemia in December 2003 and is currently in the maintenance phase of his treatment, which will be completed in January 2007. Conor wrote the following essay for school about Lance Armstrong as the person he most admired. He had some help from his mother, Theresa, typing the article.

Conor is very excited about the Team In Training program. His dad completed the Chicago Marathon as a Team In Training participant. Conor was at the event as an Honored Hero, cheering him on!

Conor was also introduced at the Chris Carmichael speaking event as one of Louisville 's Honored Heroes. Chris presented Conor with a beautiful Postal Cycling jersey, autographed by Lance. The jersey is similar to the ones worn by the U.S. Postal Team during the Tour de France. Chris had told Lance about Conor, and Lance sent personal encouragement in his cancer battle. Chris also told Conor that Lance had conquered his cancer and "so will you." What an inspirational moment for this young cancer patient and all the attendees!

I chose to do my biography report on Lance Armstrong because we have some things in common.

We are both cancer survivors and we both like to ride our bikes. My bike is different than Lance's, but we both like to ride. He has also been a big inspiration to me and lots of other people with cancer.

Lance Armstrong was born in Plano , Texas and at the age of 13 he won the Iron Kids Triathlon. He became a professional cyclist at age 16. In 1996, Lance was ranked the #1 cyclist in the world and he competed as a member of U.S. Cycling Team at the Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta .

In October 1996, Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer that had already spread to his brain and lungs. He had only a 50 percent chance of surviving. Lance had two operations and four heavy rounds of chemotherapy and by the summer of 1997, he was declared cancer-free.

It took Lance a long time to get back on his bike. In 1999, he shocked the world and won his first Tour de France. He won his 2 nd Tour de France in 2000, and continued to win every year following including 2004. He is the only cyclist to win the Tour de France six times. Lance is planning to race in the Tour de France this year, but he will probably retire after that.

Lance started the Lance Armstrong Foundation to help people with cancer and to raise money for cancer research. The yellow LIVESTRONG bracelets that you see many people wearing are being sold to make money for cancer research. The bracelets sell for only $1 and 33 million have already been sold.

Lance Armstrong has written several books, including "It's Not About the Bike" and "Every Second Counts". He has a son and twin daughters. He lives in Spain most of the year to train on his bike, but he still has a home in Texas .

I think Lance Armstrong is an inspiration to Americans everywhere, because he proved that even if you suffer an injury, you can still live your dream.

Author's Note: On February 11, 2005 I met Lance Armstrong's coach, Chris Carmichael. He had told Lance that he was going to meet me, so Lance sent an autographed jersey for Chris to give me. I was shocked when he gave it to me, but very excited. I felt like a celebrity that night. A lot of people came up to me and said I was an inspiration to them. I guess that must be what Lance feels like sometimes. I told you we had some things in common.

Team in Training

Since Team In Training began in 1988, more than 220,000 participants have raised over $500 million to help the society advance its mission: to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. For additional TNT information, call the Kentucky Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at 502-584-8490; or visit www.teamintraining.org.