"Courage + believe = life"

John Challis, the teenager from western PA who became nationally known the past few months, died of liver and lung cancer Tuesday afternoon at his family's home in Freedom Township. He was only 18, but he passed away with a sense of accomplishment.

John's story is truly inspirational. He had an amazing way of looking at the world and was able to touch so many people and change their perspective on life. I wrote about him a few times earlier this year after seeing him on TV at a Penguins game. He was an amazing young man and his story touched my heart. Hopefully he has touched yours as well.

"Life ain't about how many breaths you take. It's what you do with those breaths" - John Challis

The Real Hero of the Story

As most of you know, I'm a Philadelphia native and so things have been interesting over the past few days as the Philadelphia Flyers battle the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. My fiancé is a Pittsburgh native and prides himself on having made me into a Pittsburgh sports fan. I'm still met with a significant level of moral dilemma when the two cities go head to head. I just don't have it in me to deny my roots!

But all rivalry aside, the highlight of last night's game (for me) was by far the interview with John Challis, a young Beaver County, PA resident and devoted Pittsburgh sports fan. John is an 18 year old who is battling terminal liver and lung cancer. Post-Gazette originally ran a story a few weeks ago titled, A tale of courage which focused on John's battle with cancer and his dedication to his high school baseball team. Since then, John has has been on a national radio show and radio stations in a handful of other cities as well as local television and radio stations. This all leading up to his interview on Versus national television (during last night's game), which is when I first heard of his story.

Last night, prior to his interview, Versus showed the teenager during a scheduled meeting with a few of his all time heroes at Mario Lemieux suite at the end of the first period of the game. In one greeting John met Pittsburgh Penguins owner, Mario Lemieux (whom my fiancé refers to as "Hockey Jesus"), Steelers chairman Dan Rooney and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. John appeared in shock and just amazed by it all. Shaking hands and taking pictures with a few of his idols.

The article in the Post Gazette which detailed the event quoted John as saying, "My head is spinning, this week has just been incredible and now this. It was like someone dropped me off at the wrong party." He continued on saying, "I felt like one of the kings of the city for a few minutes with those guys. I really can't think of experiencing anything better than this, except maybe going to Rome or meeting God for the first time."

During John's interview last night, after the second period of the game, John spoke mainly about his message which is for everyone to stay positive. He spoke about all the negativity in the media and how unfortunate it is that people focus on the negative stories over the positive. John's overall message is to, "Live life to the best you can every day and be positive."

John's story has moved so many people over the course of the last few weeks. His message and outlook have inspired and touched hundreds, if not thousands of people. Hopefully his outlook and clarity of what's truly important in life will resinate with those who have heard or read his story. And if there is one thing I can say for sure, it's that John's story has definitely touched me. I wish nothing but the absolute best for John and his family as they continue fighting his battle.