In 2007, Jamie Whitmore was considered as one of the most successful athletes in America.
However, everything changed during a competition that seemed like many others she had conquered. As a professional athlete, Whitmore was used to suffering, but she never imagined the pain in her leg could be a deadly cancer.
What doctors found during surgery shocked them all: Whitmore had Spindle Cell Sarcoma, a soft tissue tumor (肿瘤) that can start in the bone, and the tumor was wrapped around her nerve and touching several vital organs. They couldn't cut it out fearing to burst the tumor.
When she heard the diagnosis for the first time, Whitmore said," Time stood still, I couldn't breathe. They were talking about the treatment and I started crying as I didn't want to die." Finally, the doctors enlisted the help of several specialists to remove the tumor. Whitmore developed sepsis (败血症) from the surgery and endured a two-month recovery. When she began to feel sick again, Whitmore was sure her cancer was back. Instead, doctors gave her unexpected news: She was pregnant with twins." That was a whole other freak-out," Whitmore recalled.
She has never met a challenge she couldn't overcome. Today, Whitmore is a mother of two sons and cancer-free. She is competing again, and has won a gold medal in the Paralympics (残奥会), nine world titles, and has set two world records. She travels as a motivational speaker when she doesn't spend time with her sons. Whitmore has some words of advice for others with limitations:" Never let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. Some doctors told me I would never ride anything. And yet I rode my mountain bike 104 miles climbing from 9, 000 feet to 14, 000 feet. People with two good legs have fallen short of that task! You just can't give up."
