Wheelchair racer who beat leukaemia attempting 7 marathons in 7 continents in 7 days

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A Singaporean wheelchair racer who beat leukaemia will attempt to complete seven marathons on seven continents over seven days. Paralympian and neuroscientist William Tan, 65, will race in Antarctica, South Africa, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Brazil and the...

He was introduced to wheelchair sports when he was 15, and went on to represent Singapore at the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul.In 2005, he attempted to complete seven marathons on seven continents, but failed to finish the Antarctica race, as his racing chair fell apart in the extreme weather.

He underwent aggressive chemotherapy, which left him feeling weak, but he wanted to continue training to maintain his fitness.“I decided that I must try to lead a normal life even while going through all of this,” he said. Dr Tan had a bone marrow transplant in 2009. His plans to go back to racing were halted, as he developed graft-versus-host disease, where his body rejected the stem cells donated by his sister.“I wanted to go back to my routine quickly. I didn’t want to adopt a ‘sick person’ or ‘cancer patient’ mentality. I wanted to go back to normal life,” said Dr Tan, whose last competitive race, a marathon, was in 2019 in Boston.

He had to decline an invitation to take part in the challenge’s 2017 edition, as he was still recovering then. “I didn’t want to be a liability to the organisers in case my body couldn’t take it. I told them I couldn’t do it, but that I would be back,” he said.

 

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