One of my passion’s in life is Group Travel. As a Speaker, I host a few trips each year for Edgerton’s Travel. In April of 2010, I led a sold out group of 50 to D.C. during Cherry Blossom Festival time. Along the way I shared inspiration and humor. One of the things I did on this particular trip was play the remarkable 11 minute speech Jimmy V gave that laid the foundation for 95 million dollars to be donated to cancer research.
Jim Valvano once coached underdog North Carolina State to the NCAA Basketball championship with a stunning upset of the mighty Houston Cougars in 1983. In June of 1992, “Jimmy V” was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was relatively still a young man. Immediately he made a decision to use whatever time he had left to help others and to lay the groundwork to find a cure for cancer. In January of 1993, ESPN approached him and offered to help him start a foundation to fight cancer. On March 4, 1993, he was to accept the first Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at an ESPN Award show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Jimmy V was a very, very sick man. Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski had become very close to him from the outset of his sickness. Duke is in Durham, just about 20 miles from Raleigh, where Jimmy V coached N.C. State. Coach K had flown up from North Carolina with him. He was by his side the whole time. However, Jimmy V was so sick it was doubtful he could even go out on stage to accept the award, much less talk. But with tumors all over his body, he made his way to the podium and gave an 11 minute Talk that was one of the best in history. After the Talk, he had to literally be carried down the steps. He had no energy left. But his message laid the foundation for a Foundation that has raised over 80 million dollars.
In it, he said:
“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.”
I wanted to share his speech early in this trip, because this would be a trip where we would laugh, think, and cry. We were going to see Memorials that would deeply move us. We would also share humor on the motorcoach.
In his Talk, Jimmy V shared wisdom that has inspired millions, including all of us on the trip.
“We are starting the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. And its motto is “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” That’s what I’m going to try to do every minute that I have left. I will thank God for the day and moment I have.”
“Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.”
He died 55 days after the Talk. Without the passion he summoned for that Talk, it’s doubtful the Foundation would have come close to raising over 80 million dollars (you can view it at jimmyv.org). The travellers were impacted by it, because it helped set the tone for what was ahead, and learning more about so many people in American history who didn’t ever give up. Throughout the trip, I read from the book “Don’t Give Up…Don’t Ever Give Up” by Justin Spizman and Robyn Spizman (sourcebooks.com).
To read about the remarkable inspiration we received in visiting the Memorials around D.C. go to edgertonstravel.com and look in the Blog area
http://www.edgertonstravel.com/blog/index.cfm?p=69
Charlie Adams
Speaker