In 1984, the eyes of the world were glued to Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton when he brought home a gold medal after earning a bronze four years earlier. After Hamilton’s Olympic contests were said and done, the incredible athlete faced a deadly contest against a relentless opponent that never gives up, cancer.
In 1997 Hamilton was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He fought bravely and overcame the terrible disease. The champion was cancer-free for nearly 7 years until doctors discovered a brain tumor in 2004. Again, the heroic Olympian faced cancer head on and came out victorious, but the disease returned again in 2010. Confident and determined, Hamiltion beat cancer a third time. Late last year the brain tumor returned a third time.
“I have a unique hobby of collecting life-threatening illness. It’s six years later, and it decided that it wanted an encore,” Hamilton told People magazine with a smile.
Doctors discovered that Hamilton had been born with the tumor, but it had not presented itself until much later in his adult life. Despite his incredible trials, Hamilton remains positive with more love than one heart can contain. Hamilton traveled to Haiti to provide humanitarian aid after the terrible earthquake of 2010. While there, he and his wife Tracie fell in love with a pairof orphans and adopted them as their own children. Now the family lives happily in Nashville, Tennessee, and Scott refuses to let fear tear them apart.
In an interview with People magazine Scott said,
“When this one came back, six years ago, I told Tracie – she was devastated. This time, I go, ‘Well, here we go again.’ She’s like, ‘Really, it’s back? Okay, we’ll just deal with it.’
And that was it.
My 12-year-old son…. came to me, and he said, ‘Is your brain tumor back?’ And I go, ‘Yeah, it is! And here we go again.’ So I set the tone.”
Hamilton refused to receive treatment after consulting with specialists around the country. He recently revealed that he decided to rely on his Christian faith and let God’s will determine his future. “I’ve been blessed beyond my wildest imagination; I would never even think to dream the stuff that I’ve been able to do,” he says. “Last round, in 2010, I told Tracie, ‘God doesn’t owe me a day. I’m good. Whatever’s next is next.’ The blessings keep coming because we allow them and we ask for them.”
Hamilton’s prayers were answered when doctors discovered a miracle, his brain tumor had begun to shrink. “The nature of them is to grow, and without treatment, they have no reason to shrink,” Hamilton said. “So I was the recipient of a spectacular miracle. I’m keeping an eye on it, and there’s no treatment needed at this time.”
Hear more about this incredible 58-year-old athlete’s plans in the video below.
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