Market: New York

Athlete: Chris Chiodo, Morgan Stanley

In October, 1996 the Yankees were down 2 games to none in the World Series, and my dad was just finishing his third surgery and going through intense rounds of chemotherapy. I was 7 years old at the time and it was tough to grasp the severity of what was going on, but it was clear that things were not looking good. People were anticipating the end. But with a lot of prayer and a lot of science, the doctors and nurses at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center got my dad back to full speed and the Yankees ended up coming back to win the World Series. Talk about an ESPN tear jerker.

In January 2012, my brother, 26 at the time, was diagnosed with cancer. I remember him saying, “How does a 26-year-old get diagnosed with cancer?” And I couldn’t agree more with his frustration. My brother caught his cancer early and was healed with surgery. But this was yet another cancer scare brought to my immediate family.

On June 18th, 2012 I was diagnosed with cancer. I had just turned 23. The feeling you get when the doctor tells you this news is like nothing you can ever imagine. You jump to the worst possible conclusions in your head and you feel trapped. There isn’t a single thing anyone can say to you to comfort you. That’s the reality of cancer. To be blunt, you don’t know if you will survive.

When the initial panic stage begins to fade, you are able to take a step back. Analyze the situation, educate yourself and put yourself in a positive state of mind by looking at life for what it is – a miracle and a beautiful thing. This is the approach I took. I wanted every single person to look at me not as a suffering cancer patient, but as a normal person enjoying this gift we call life. Call it corny, but life is precious and if you don’t stop and smell the roses, you won’t enjoy everything it has to offer.

Sure it’s tough to live normally when you’re being pumped with the heaviest dose of chemo possible and swallowing over 20 different pills. But that’s what you need to do! I would not have been able to do this without the doctors and nurses at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This staff single handedly saves lives and makes people feel comforted during what can only be call the toughest of times.

So what’s my motivation for participating in The D10? Knowing that every dollar raised goes directly to the hospital that single handedly saved me, my dad, and my brother’s life and knowing that every child suffering from cancer that is treated at MSKCC is receiving better treatment and better care every day. Competing and raising money for this amazing hospital is one way we can continue to strike out cancer and help these amazing kids battling to survive.

#BringIt
Chris