Where is your finish line? That is the question three-time brain cancer survivor Richard Wright threw out to his audience at a charity fundraiser in Gqeberha on Friday.
Wright, a multiple Ironman competitor, was speaking at a breakfast presented by ITS Pumps in aid of Aurora Special Care Centre at Westview Sports Club in Newton Park.
At the breakfast, the former salesperson and national training manager for Pam Golding Properties shared lessons learnt from excelling in endurance sport and overcoming a diagnosis of a rare and aggressive cancer.
Where hammering cancer in itself is special for most people, Wright has fought, and beat, the disease three times.
While undergoing treatment he also completed five full Ironman races, at times in the top 5% of all finishers in his 45-49 age-group. As his bio aptly puts it, he “has mastered true grit and is a radical optimist”.
He has also etched the ethos of his victory into his body — literally, in tattoos — by inking words such as authentic, love, vulnerable, grateful, change, fallible and purpose on to his arms.
Wright became a force to be reckoned with when he was given his own finish line after his doctor picked up pituitary carcinoma a few years prior.
Surgery was the only option for this terminal cancer, followed by radiation therapy as “insurance”, he says, so that he could live to see his two daughters grow up.
He fought his cancer with the same ferocious energy that he races with — body and mind aligned to the goal, looking past obstacles to focus on reaching that coveted finish line.
Wright draws a clear line between survivors and victims and despite the curveball of his cancer recurring he refuses to see himself as a victim, preferring to keep a positive mindset.
“The seeds you plant empower or debilitate, promote or demote, and are your greatest ally or your greatest nemesis,” he told his audience.
“And words matter: whether you tell yourself that you can complete a 3,8km swim, a 180km cycle and a 42,2km run for Ironman or you tell yourself that you can’t, you are right.
“Are you living your life like a magnificent survivor of everything that has ever happened to you, or you just trying to survive today, in the hopes that tomorrow is going to be better?”
His answer, of course, is not only to survive but thrive by filling his body and brain with good energy, which he admitted had not been easy over Covid-19.
The athlete had been enjoying life. His Gqeberha-based partner Deborah had just moved to Johannesburg to live with him, he was in full remission from cancer and his career had blossomed.
Then, when the hard lockdown bit in March 2020, “we lost 100% of our future income, literally every single gig, event, conference, everything”.
“I was like, how do I start from scratch again?
“So I phoned all my previous clients, and literally just asked the question, ‘how can I help’.”
The response was to offer motivation, sorely needed over the pandemic.
However, like so many in early 2020, he had never gone “virtual” and rapidly had to learn online presentation skills.
The other stumbling block was that as much as his clients needed his upbeat message, few still had spare cash to pay him — so he often bartered goods or services in exchange for an empowering keynote speech.
And it worked, because over the past year or so Wright has spoken to around 55,000 people in more than 50 countries without ever leaving SA. He sees himself as a resilience coach and has written a book spelling out his creed in The Power of Purpose.
Event MC Gareth Burley outlined how Aurora Special Care Centre could do with a ray of optimism as it had also seen its income shrivel over the past year.
Fundraiser Nicole Davidge said the NPO, which takes care of severally disabled children and adults, received an extremely small government subsidy.
Fortunately, Wright was there to rev up the room, infusing his audience with crusading energy and more than a touch of humour, touching on his school days, domestic bliss (or lack thereof) and training wipe-outs.
“I didn’t survive brain cancer three times just to survive brain cancer. My own purpose is to help others along the path to a fully engaged, fiercely connected and purpose-drenched life.
“It doesn’t matter how many times I tell this story, what goes through your head when you know you are not going to see another Christmas, what will you do with your time?
“You couldn’t possibly be a more authentic version of yourself than when someone tells you that your time on the planet has an end date.”
HeraldLIVE
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