Professional Cyclist Survives Life-Changing Challenge
TROY (May 31, 2016) - When professional cyclist Connor O’Leary won TV’s The Amazing Race at age 21 he’d already won a bigger race for his life against testicular cancer.
O’Leary shared the story of his battle against cancer and the double whammy of blood clots as he neared the end of his chemotherapy during the annual Bill and Ruth McGraw Cancer Awareness Symposium on May 10 in Troy.
He also shared in the program and an interview how the experience taught him to appreciate every day and the opportunities each offers.
O’Leary was racing and on top of the world with an American cycling team in Europe in the weeks before he was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 at age 19. He had felt some discomfort and fatigue but thought perhaps there was a problem with his iron levels.
“It was the last thing on my mind,” he said of the cancer diagnosis. “I was devastated.”
He underwent surgery and began treatment almost immediately.
Near the end of the chemotherapy, he was felled by blood clots in his lungs and legs. Those brought “the scariest 10 days of my life” as doctors worked to help his body recover, O’Leary said.
As he healed, he made the decision to again pursue his sport and overcame initial disappointments as he again built his strength and skills.
“It definitely was an eye-opening experience, I realized I am not bullet proof and life is actually really fragile. I have learned to take advantage of every opportunity… to focus on what is really important in my life,” O’Leary said.
With that approach, a long–time desire to participate in The Amazing Race was resurrected. He convinced his father, a prostate cancer survivor, to apply as his teammate. In the Amazing Race television reality program teams of two people race around the world in competitions with other teams.
The O’Learys were selected but had to drop out during the competition when his father was injured. They got another chance later in a The Amazing Race All-Star competition in 2013. This time the O’Leary team won and took home a $1 million prize to Salt Lake City.
“It was much harder than I ever thought. I thought ‘I am a little bit of an athlete, I may have a little edge,’ but it was hard,” O’Leary said.
He is back into cycling with his next big challenge a 2,700-mile ride from Canada to Mexico, a feat he hopes to accomplish in 14 days.
 Connor O’Leary talks with members of the McGraw family |
His advice to others? Don’t ignore signs of possible trouble, and live life to the fullest.
“I was an elite athletic; there was no way I could get cancer. I spent every day being as healthy as I could be. That (diagnosis) was a little tough to swallow,” he said. “I initially thought, ‘How did this happen to me and not one of my friends playing X-Box all day?’ You soon realize you can’t ask those kind of questions. You are dealt the hand you are.”
The cancer awareness symposium has been offered to the public since 2001 and became the Bill and Ruth McGraw Cancer Awareness Symposium in 2006. It is held in honor of the late Bill and Ruth McGraw, parents of Bill McGraw II and his sisters, Karen McGraw and Chris Grilliot. Between them, Bill and Ruth McGraw had cancer five times, but neither died from the disease.
The awareness program is made possible by a gift from the McGraw Family Fund of The Troy Foundation and a grant from the UVMC Foundation. To learn more, contact the UVMC Foundation at (937) 440-7541.
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