Manawatu Standard

Young cancer survivor’s great race

Cancer survivor competes in tough endurance race

- Brendon Egan brendon.egan@stuff.co.nz

Three years ago, doctors told cancer survivor Jake Bailey he might never walk again unassisted.

Chemothera­py attacked the cancer in Bailey’s body so aggressive­ly he suffered nerve damage in his legs, leaving him unable to walk and in a wheelchair. It was so severe, he couldn’t even roll over in bed at night.

Bailey will cycle 140km today and tomorrow as a member of a three-person team in the two-day section of the Coast to Coast, the 243km multisport race which travels the width of the South Island from Kumara to New Brighton Beach in Christchur­ch – something he never thought was possible.

It will be another important milestone for the 21-year-old, who earned global acclaim in November 2015 when he gave an inspiratio­nal prizegivin­g speech as Christchur­ch Boys’ High head boy, a week after being diagnosed with Burkitt’s nonhodgkin’s lymphoma.

He will race with former Boys’ High classmates Dalton Ewing and James Dunbar. Their team is called Altiora Peto, Christchur­ch Boys’ Latin motto, which means ‘I seek higher things’.

Bailey, who celebrated three years in remission last week, doesn’t have a sporting background, taking cycling seriously only over the past year.

‘‘The last time I was on a bike before last year was when I was biking to school in year eight,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s been a bit of a change. I was that chubby kid that was picked last in PE class. I was that kid that was nowhere to be found on sports day. It’s a big change for the people around me to see.’’

Gold Coast-based Bailey, who works as a public speaker trying to help others battling cancer, said there were strong parallels between endurance sport and the struggles he went through with treatment. Both required strength, willpower, and determinat­ion to overcome the ‘‘inner demons’’ of the mind.

‘‘Through my experience with cancer I’ve developed a bit of an obsession with what the body is capable of and how much more it is capable of than you would expect.

‘‘I’ve already seen my body

pushed as far as it will ever go, and I know it’s never going to be or feel that bad again as it was during treatment.’’

Bailey has become interested in triathlon and is training hard for a charity cycle event in May, the Tour de Cure, a 1287km race from Sydney to Geelong in Melbourne over nine days. He is an ambassador for the charity and funds raised contribute to cancer research.

Over the past two months, he has concentrat­ed solely on cycling, getting through 12 hours a week on his trusty Specialize­d loan bike. Having grown up in Sumner, where the race previously finished, Bailey was regularly at the finish line to cheer on exhausted competitor­s as a child.

He described competing in the event as a ‘‘symbolic mountain top’’ for his cancer recovery.

Bailey developed a ‘‘lovehate’’ relationsh­ip with his body during treatment and said being able to punish it on the cycle leg of the Coast to Coast was liberating.

‘‘My gratitude for being able to walk, and being able to take part in something like this, is intertwine­d with that sinister desire for punishment for my legs for what happened. Once you’re climbing up a big hill and your legs are really starting to burn, you don’t hesitate to think this is punishment for what you did to me for those couple of months, where I had to go to Burwood Spinal Unit and learn to walk again.’’

Bailey believed he was the healthiest and fittest he’d been in his life.

He often met people who were anxious they would never return to the lives or activities they once enjoyed after overcoming cancer.

If Bailey, who finished last in the cross-country run at primary school, could succeed in the Coast to Coast, they too could return to normality.

‘‘I’d love to be able to show these other Kiwis, who are winning their battle with cancer, that it’s entirely possible to come out the other side a better version of yourself physically.’’

‘‘I was that chubby kid that was picked last in PE class.’’

Jake Bailey

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 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? Jake Bailey is feeling fit after some intensive training. Inset: Bailey gave an emotional speech at his school assembly in 2015 when battling cancer.
GETTY IMAGES Jake Bailey is feeling fit after some intensive training. Inset: Bailey gave an emotional speech at his school assembly in 2015 when battling cancer.
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