CT Challenge Team Visits Leever Cancer Center for Survivor Day

November 4, 2009

Tom Hayes lifted his prosthetic leg way up in the air until it almost touched his nose and said “Isn’t cancer the best wake-up call of all?”  Tom, a cancer champion of almost 50 years was speaking to us at Leever Cancer Center’s Survivor’s Day Celebration in Waterbury, CT.  Leever Cancer Center is jointly owned by Waterbury and St. Mary’s Hospitals and the folks there were very warm and welcoming to a visit from the Connecticut Challenge today. 

Tom, a wonderfully exuberant man, lost his leg to osteosarcoma when he was just 13 years old and spoke of being told by his team of doctors that he would never be able to ride a bike again.  All the doctors said it was impossible.  At the time, there was a 5% survival rate for the cancer that he had, and no chemotherapy.  So, he left the hospital and soon afterward got on his bike.  The mothers in the neighborhood were always looking out for him, so they would run out of their houses and yell to him “Tom, get off the bike”!   But he was afraid to try and ride the bike because if he did, he would promptly fall down without a leg to hold him up.  So, after repeated tries, one day he just decided that fear is the great crippler, got on the bike, and rode down the street.  All the mothers ran out of their houses running after him “Tom, get off the bike”!  He rode to his doctor’s office, and told him “an obstacle is just an obstacle – something to get by.”  And from that moment on, he realized that if you’re going to make it, you’ve got to have a sense of humor. 

There were so many inspirational messages Tom had for us today.  He spent 27 years in radiology and like many businesses, sales was the driving force.  The sales guys were sitting around discussing their strategy for the next day when someone inquired what he had planned.  “We’re getting 8 inches of powder tonight, so I’m going skiing…and you guys should come with me.”  What?  They were appalled.  Play hooky from work?  “Have fun, enjoy today”, Tom said.  “Just think, in 40 years you’ll be telling the story of the day we all took off from work and went skiing and how much fun we had.  If you come to work tomorrow, do you think you’ll be telling a story to your grandchildren of the day you made 10 more sales calls?”  It was another reminder to stop, smell the roses, keep things in perspective, all the lessons that we’re told over and over again.  Often when we’re in the face of fear or just caught up in our habitual routines, we forget the important things.  Luckily, we have Tom Hayes to remind us. 

Thanks to the staff at Leever Cancer Center for their hospitality and graciousness.  We had a great day.     

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