Even Don Wright Admits He Didn’t Think He Could Reach His Goal, But MY LIFE IS WORTH IT Says the 75-Year-Old Runner is Ready for His 99th and 100th Marathons with Cancer

NEW YORK & DES MOINES, Iowa & PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)– MY LIFE IS WORTH IT (MLIWI), a non-profit patient advocacy
organization, today said that 75-year-old cancer patient Don Wright is
about to defy doctor’s expectations and demonstrate the power of medical
innovation. He is scheduled to complete his 99^th and 100^th
marathons since he was diagnosed with an incurable cancer 13 years ago,
even though he is 75 years old and still undergoing treatment.

He’ll run in the Des Moines Marathon on Oct. 16^th and
celebrate his 100^th marathon after 13 years with cancer in
the Philadelphia Marathon on November 20^th (www.desmoinesmarathon.com
and www.philadelphiamarathon.com).

Even Don faces his achievement with disbelief. Back in 2012 he was
skeptical about reaching his first goal. “When I started running
marathons it was just for fun, and only in recent years did I think I
could actually run in all 50 states.”

But Don did reach that goal of running at least one marathon in all 50
states in December 2012, and now he’s about to reach his new goal of 100
marathons with cancer.

“One hundred marathons means I will have crossed the finish line ahead
of the cancer 100 times. At the starting line before the race, I think
about all of friends and acquaintances who didn’t get this far. Then, as
I run, I imagine that I’m sticking a finger in the cancer’s eye and
kicking it down the road.”

NOT YOUR GRANDFATHER’S CHEMOTHERAPY

Don was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that affects
cells in the bone marrow. When he was first diagnosed, treatment options
were limited and the expectations for survival were less than five
years. Thirteen years later, he’s on a pill to keep the cancer in check,
and when the cancer showed signs of a flare up, his doctors added one of
the new immune-boosting treatments to his regimen.

“These treatments did not exist when Don was first diagnosed,” says Bob
Tufts, fellow myeloma patient, former Major League Baseball pitcher and
co-founder of MY LIFE IS WORTH IT. “Most people cannot run
marathons, but Don runs to raise awareness of the medical advances that
have changed the lives of patients like himself, to encourage other
patients when they hear that frightening diagnosis, and to fight for
continuing medical progress for those with cancers that remain more
difficult to treat.”

IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR

“The timing of the diagnosis had special significance for our family,”
says Ardis Wright, Don’s loving wife of 53 years. She adds, “My father
was diagnosed with acute leukemia when he was 62. He lived only five
more years. When Don was diagnosed with another blood cancer, myeloma,
also at age 62 – I saw my own life heading toward a tragic turn. But
instead I am grateful that the marvelous medication that my husband
started as part of a clinical trial, is now approved for use, giving
many more people the possibility of a quality of life that we continue
to celebrate.”

Don is recapping all of his marathons under his eRace Cancer
social-media banner www.facebook.com/ERACECANCER/,
and twitter.com/eRaceCancer.
Since 2011 eRace Cancer has been raising awareness of multiple
myeloma and the value of medical innovation.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

www.facebook.com/eRaceCancer
www.twitter.com/eRaceCancer
www.mylifeisworthit.org

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