On April 30th, 2004, three weeks before his college graduation, Bill’s son was diagnosed with an advanced case of testicular cancer. Evidence of the disease’s spread could be found in his lymph nodes and lungs. After months of aggressive chemotherapy and surgeries, Bill and Nancy were told that their son was without evidence of disease.

For months, Bill watched cancer patients give selfless and unconditional love to those among them who battled daily for their very existence. Small kindnesses of sharing a drink, bringing a balloon or simply holding a hand became life-affirming experiences. Bill will tell everyone that he feels blessed to have witnessed humanity take flight as the human struggled to survive.

It is these experiences that lead Bill to become active on a support forum for those struggling with cancer and to begin riding a bicycle.  In 2006, he participated in his first LiveStrong Challenge. Bill’s involvement that weekend was one of the most amazing events he had ever had the honor of participating in. There were so many inspirational moments from very public displays of admiration to a very private moment when a four-year-old girl went running in tears to her survivor father as he finished his first-ever 100-mile bike ride. It was uplifting to see people refuse to be defined by their illness and instead choose to redefine what it means to be a survivor.

His involvement with the cancer forum led Bill to captain a team for all future LiveStrong Challenges. The team’s first year was 2008 and we decided on the name LOVEstrong after an incident with one of the families we were supporting:

It was June 2007. A mom was sitting beside her son’s sick bed. He was 23 years old and was just beginning his fourth round of chemotherapy for testicular cancer. Sharon, the mom, was beside herself with fear for what the future might hold for her son. For the past few months she had been able to calm Russell’s fears and had dried many of his tears with her kisses. As she watched his restless turning, in a chemo-induced sleep, she didn’t know where she could find the strength to comfort her son. To calm her own nerves she began to pull on her LiveStrong band. As she was wondering what she had left to give, the LiveStrong band began to break at the letter “I” and almost as if by divine providence the “I” became an “O” and she had her answer. We must not only Livestrong but we must also Lovestrong.

Our team is now perpetually dedicated to the recognition of the unlimited power of unconditional love. It is, after all, love that gives strength, hope and courage to all who battle for survival and imagine a world without cancer. Our rides (and walks and runs) are dedicated to our survivors and our fallen whose love sustains us and makes our lives complete. It is for our mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, partners, family, friends and neighbors, whose love gives us strength, hope and the courage to live every single day to its fullest potential. As a team we will be united, survivors and loved-ones, linked in the bonds of love and hope which make us one and fuels our lives.