Kicking Cancer to the Curb.
Persistent. Positive. Living with passion and perspective.
Matt Lampson had it all. Then he didn’t. Then he did. At 18 years old, the Ohio native had just graduated from high school and was headed to a Division 1 soccer program as a goalkeeper, a dream come true. That’s when he as diagnosed with Stage IVB Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. “Instead of fighting for playing time as a freshman at Northern Illinois University, Lampson remained in Ohio and fought to survive,” as his bio states on the Lampstrong Foundation website. (Lampson launched the foundation to help people fighting cancer.)
The cancer had spread to his pancreas, lungs and bone marrow. He had cancerous lymph nodes throughout his body.
Excerpt: “After months of harsh BEACOPP chemotherapy treatments (one round lasts three weeks–he had six) that caused him to lose his hair and put on 80 pounds, Lampson was declared cancer-free on September 24, 2007. The life-or-death experience had a profound impact on his worldview.
“Applying the same determination that was vital to his cancer fight, Lampson worked his way back into playing shape and transferred to Ohio State University, where he quickly became one of the top goalkeepers in the Big Ten. He was named co-Freshman of the Year in 2009 and was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2010. In December 2011, Lampson signed a professional contract.
“…Knowing that life is about more than just soccer, Lampson is determined to use his journey to make an impact off the field as well. He frequently visits young cancer patients in the hospital because he has known the experience of being the patient in the bed, not the special guest sitting next to it. He remembers what those visits meant to him while he was sick, saying, ‘They provided a hope, a happiness, and a way to escape the mostly daunting tasks that I was forced to endure in order to save my own life during treatment.’
“…Lampson is determined to give all that he has to give, and he hopes that he can inspire others to make a difference with the second lease on life that they’ve earned.
“’I have been extraordinarily passionate to show what current and former cancer patients can accomplish as long as they take that same drive and desire shown in the fight for their life, and implement it in their everyday lives.’
“To Lampson, cancer wasn’t just something he overcame. It was something that helped him become the person and the player he is today. ‘It’s not like ‘Oh, well I went through cancer so I can do anything.’ It was a legitimate personality switch.’ said Lampson, ‘To the point of deciding I’m not gonna let anyone prevent me from doing what I want to do and prevent me from achieving the things that I want to achieve. I knew that nobody that I’ll be playing against will have gone through what I went through. So these people don’t realize how badly I want it, that’s just the kind of mindset I had following treatment and it’s carried me through.’”
For more on Matt Lampson, click on the links below.
