“Have you been to wet and wild today, is that your waterslide entry band? And “Are you collecting the seals off vegemite lids?” Unique hobby but no I'm not. The yellow bands are engraved with Lance's mantra, Live Strong and all proceeds go to the ‘Lance Armstrong Foundation' which helps people with cancer live strong. For those of you who are not familiar with Lance Armstrong you may recognise this scene from Dodgeball, which features the legend himself.

Lance Armstrong: Hey, aren't you Peter La Fleur?
Peter La Fleur: Lance Armstrong!
Lance Armstrong: Ya, that's me. But I'm a big fan of yours.
Peter La Fleur: Really?
Lance Armstrong: Ya, I've been watching the dodgeball tournament on the Ocho. ESPN 8. I just can't get enough of it. Good luck in the tournament. I'm really pulling for you against those jerks from Globo Gym. I think you better hurry up or you're gonna be late.
Peter La Fleur: Uh, actually I decided to quit... Lance.
Lance Armstrong: Quit? You know, once I was thinking of quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung and testicular cancer all at the same time. But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and won the Tour de France five times in a row. But I'm sure you have a good reason to quit. So what are you dying of that's keeping you from the finals?
Peter La Fleur: Right now it feels a little bit like... shame.
Lance Armstrong: Well, I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn't anything to regret for the rest of their life. Well good luck to you Peter. I'm sure this decision won't haunt you forever.

Lance, originally a triathlete, began the sport of road racing in 1990. With great coaching and commitment he quickly became a rising star. At the beginning of career, he won a number of world championship races and a few stages of the tour de france. His dream, like many other road racers, was to win the full tour.
In the Atlanta Olympic Games he finished 12th in the road race and 6th in the time trial. Not bad, but below his potential. It was later found that during this race, he was suffering from testicular cancer and by the time he was examined, it had spread to his lungs and his brain. He was given a 40% chance of survival. After a year of treatment and recovery, Lance returned to the sport. He has won every Tour de France since 1999. In July this year he will attempt for a record seventh consecutive win in his final race before retirement. Pretty incredible hey. lance armstrong.jpg

Over 47 million LIVESTRONGâ„¢ wristbands have now been purchased. In February Oprah set out to break the LAF's wristband sales record of 382,000 wristbands in one day. The show's viewers responded enthusiastically and purchased 952,300 in one 24-hour period. More than 1.7 million wristbands in total were purchased during the weekend that followed the show. Do you think we can beat it? If you wish to purchase a band, the official LAF site is http://www.laf.org Send this story about this inspiring man to your friends and family and help support those with cancer.
Carl Harris