Market: New York

Athlete: Thomas "Scooter" Moles (AMG Funds)

I had a simple dream as a kid: I wanted play forward for Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I needed, among other things, to grow to a height of at least 6’6” to make this dream a reality. As a 5’10” thirteen-year-old, I was well on my way. Devoted as I was to the idea of playing basketball, I was unfazed by the persistent growing pains that accompanied my rapid growth. Soon though, a “growing pain” in my left leg never went away.

I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in my femur—still the worst word I’ve ever heard—medical-speak for bone cancer. It was rare and dire—often requiring an amputation. Instead of playing with my buddies and growing as I was meant to, in an immediate way I was going to have to focus 100 percent of my efforts on fighting this thing. Everything that had previously mattered to me was seemingly wiped away overnight. Now there was only room for chemotherapy, crutches, surgery, tutors, hospital stays, sympathy cards from friends who could no longer relate to me and weren’t quite sure what to talk to me about. One of the most painful memories from that time was realizing that my days as an athlete were over. Sports were previously my whole world, so being forced to call it quits was devastating. It still is actually. That’s why this decathlon is so special to me. It gives me the opportunity to compete again, to help fight pediatric cancer…the thing that derailed me so many years ago.

It may sound cliché, but hope saved my life. My deep-seated belief in my doctors and the cutting-edge care I was receiving kept me going. It saved my leg, and it saved my life. Those doctors never gave up, even when things looked grim, and neither did I. I wore a Tar Heel cap on my bald head and believed that I would live and would someday play basketball again—that I would be part of a team.

I’m competing to raise money for a worthy cause─but for me, it's so much more than that. I’m competing because I survived. I went to college, and eventually I made it to UNC—for business school. I met some of my best friends there and we are Team MHP in this decathlon. We are competing for that scared and awkward thirteen-year-old year old who isn’t sure he’s going to ever be on a team again. We are sending him a message of hope.

I sport many scars and a funny-looking sneaker, but I’m healthy and I’m here, with a loving family by my side, because of the excellent care I received. My goal is to raise awareness and the money needed so that in thirty years a cancer survivor just like me can feel the daily gratitude I do for the two strong legs he’s running on.