Westminster speaker beats high odds

February 13, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

NEW WILMINGTON, PA.

Everyone who bets on lottery games knows they face astronomical odds against winning millions, but Sean Swarner can tell you about odds he beat that are even more remote.

“The chance of survival is the same as winning the lottery four times in a row with the same number,” the motivational speaker and author told several hundred who attended his lecture Sunday in Westminster College’s Wallace Memorial Chapel. He was referring to having survived two unrelated forms of cancer at a young age.

Swarner, a 1997 Westminster grad who majored in psychology, was the guest speaker as part of the 30th annual Wayne H. Christy Lecture series. The late Dr. Christy was a longtime Westminster faculty member and chairman of its Department of Religion and Philosophy.

At age 13, Swarner was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system that impairs the body’s ability to fight infection. Three years later, he had a tumor about the size of a golf ball removed before learning he had Askin’s sarcoma, a rare, malignant form of cancer that develops in the chest wall and affects children.

“The doctor told my parents, ‘Hey, your son has 14 days to live,’” largely because of the effects of continual chemotherapy and radiation treatments for Askin’s, Swarner told the full house.

After his poor prognosis, he was read his last rites. In addition, Swarner spent about a year in a medically induced coma, he added.

“I don’t remember being 16 years old,” Swarner added.

Against all odds, however, about 10 years after the second grim diagnosis, he climbed to the top of the 29,000-foot-high Mount Everest, making him the first cancer survivor to accomplish the feat.

The achievement also motivated the Willard, Ohio, native to top the highest peaks in South America, the U.S., Africa, Australia and Antarctica.

Despite having climbed tens of thousands of feet – with one functioning lung – Swarner’s message to those experiencing life’s difficulties is far more down to earth. He asked audience members to consider what they can learn from themselves while stressing the connection between one’s positive or negative thoughts, feelings and actions.

Similarly, everyone goes through rough times, but the outcome will be determined much more by one’s perspective than the event itself, he explained.

Swarner, author of a book titled “Keep Climbing,” described a variety of challenges he faced en route to the top of Mount Everest, including having endured a snowstorm while at the 21,000-foot mark. He spent much of two days and two nights holding up his tent at the campsite, Swarner recalled.

Also, he suffered from altitude-based swelling of the brain, a form of illness that is common in those who climb largely because of the thinner air. Nevertheless, Swarner said, he felt much better in a few days.

“I think I have a fleet of angels working overtime, and I hope they never go on vacation,” said Swarner, who co-founded The CancerClimber Association, a nonprofit organization committed to helping those with the disease better focus on living healthful, active and positive lifestyles.

So, after having scaled the world’s highest and largest summits, is this odds-breaker ready to hang up the gear? Not quite.

His next outing is set for March or April, when he intends to hike in the Arctic Circle and the North Pole, said Swerner, who also was voted Westminster’s Outstanding Young Alumni in 2008.