There are a lot of celebrities and 'famous people' that are living with a challenging physical situation and face the same situations you and I do. Their stories are inspirational and motivating........ read on.

Lance Armstrong

Mike Utley

Christopher Reeve

Michael J. Fox

LANCE ARMSTRONG

When Lance Armstrong spoke at a conference in Portland, Ore., after he won the 1999 Tour de France bicycle race, he said to the audience: "If I had to choose between getting testicular cancer and winning the Tour de France, I would choose testicular cancer."

Born Sept. 18, 1971, Lance was raised by his mother Linda, a single parent, in Plano, Texas. Lance won the Iron Kids Triathlon at 13 and became a triathlete when he was just 16 years old. By the time Lance was a senior in high school he had many cycling sponsors and was training with the Junior National Cycling Team. After high school he won the U.S. Amateur Championship and joined Motorola, the top U.S. cycling team.

In 1993, he led Motorola to a number five world ranking, the first time any U.S. team had ranked so high in the world. In the next three years Lance established himself as the top U.S. racer. Headlines described him as the "DuPont Dominator" and "The Golden Boy of American Cycling." When offered a very attractive contract to join the French Cofidis cycling team, one of the best in Europe, he left Motorola.

Lance started 1996 winning the Tour DuPont and the Fleche Wallonne. But in early October, he was diagnosed with an advanced form of testicular cancer. It had spread to his abdomen, lungs, and brain. Chances for his recovery were 50/50. Frightened, but determined, Lance began the most aggressive form of chemotherapy available. It weakened him and he lost more than 20 pounds, but he had a deep well of reserves and the unconditional support of family and close friends. Cofides, however, following the news of his illness, terminated his contract with them.

When tests showed that the chemotherapy was working, Lance allowed his thoughts to return to racing. Lance affiliated with the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling team and began training only five months after his diagnosis. Lance was declared cancer-free in 1997.

In 1998, Lance officially returned to professional cycling, wearing a United States Postal Service jersey. After an uncertain early season, he proved he was back in form towards the end of the year, winning a stage race and placing fourth in the World Championships.

In 1999, the world witnessed the greatest comeback in sports history as Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France, the most grueling sporting event in the world, a three week bicycle race of more than 2,200 miles through the most rugged mountains in France, Italy and Spain.

In July, 2000, Lance again led the United States Postal Service team to a victory in the Tour de France, making Lance one of very few cyclists to win twice in a row.

Lance says the cancer left him scarred physically and emotionally, but says it was an unexpected gift. Throughout his life-threatening ordeal, Lance knew his priorities were changing. His physical well being, something that had never been challenged, was suddenly fragile. His ordeal made him fully appreciate the blessings of good health, a loving family and close friends. Lance described his bout with cancer as "a special wake-up call."

As the world watched him ride day after day in the 1999 and 2000 Tour de France he became a hero. Every day he gave hope and inspiration to millions of people facing their own adversity. Many people say, "If Armstrong could come back from this, maybe I can too."

Lance says his illness may have been the best thing that could have happened. He gained a perspective earned only after enduring an experience like his. He is now motivated not only to win bike races, but to compete every day for the gift of life; his own life as well as the lives of others.

Lance has established The Lance Armstrong Foundation, an organization devoted to cancer research and helping people survive cancer.

More information about Lance Armstrong and his foundation can be found at http://www.lancearmstrong.com

...this article is from ICANONLINE.com...thank you!

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MIKE UTLEY
On November 17, 1991, Detroit Lions' offensive guard Mike Utley (#60), was paralyzed during an NFL game. His courageous "THUMBS UP" gesture has become the national symbol of Mike's fighting spirit. In the many months that have followed since his injury, Mike has focused all of his energies towards rehabilitation. This has meant countless hours of therapy which have made Mike nearly 100% self sufficient.

Today, Mike has voluntary movement of muscles in his lower legs and feet and participates in a "gaiting" program with the help of leg braces and crutches.

Check out the Mike Utley Foundation website at www.mikeutlety.org

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CHRISTOPHER REEVE
The whole world held its breath when Christopher Reeve struggled for life on Memorial Day, 1995. On the third jump of a riding competition, Reeve was thrown headfirst from his horse in an accident that broke his neck and left him unable to move or breathe. In the years since then, Reeve has not only survived, but has fought for himself, for his family, and for the hundreds of thousands of people with spinal cord injuries in the United States and around the world. And he has written Still Me, the heartbreaking, funny, courageous, and hopeful story of his life.

The man who cannot move has not stopped moving. He has established a charitable foundation to raise awareness and money for research on spinal cord injuries. His work as director of the HBO film In the Gloaming earned him an Emmy nomination, one of five that the film received. His speeches at the Democratic National Convention and the Academy Awards inspired people around the country and the world. He has testified before Congress on behalf of health insurance legislation, lobbied for increased federal funding for spinal cord research, and developed a working relationship with President Clinton.

Chris and Dana Reeve have gathered the will and the spirit to create a new life, one responsive and engaged and focused on the future. Together, they are a symbol of inspiration and hope around the world. For more info on the Christopher Reeve Foundation, check out the website www.paralysis.org

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Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox was born Michael Andrew Fox in 1961 to parents William and Phyllis in Edmonton, the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta. (He later adopted the "J" as an homage to legendary character actor Michael J. Pollard.) Fox, a self-described "Army brat," moved several times during his childhood along with his parents, brother, and three sisters. The Foxes finally planted roots in Burnaby, British Columbia (a suburb of Vancouver), when William Fox retired from the Canadian Armed Forces in 1971.

Like most Canadian kids, Fox loved hockey and dreamed of a career in the National Hockey League. In his teens, his interests expanded. He began experimenting with creative writing and art and played guitar in a succession of rock-and-roll garage bands before ultimately realizing his affinity for acting.

Fox debuted as a professional actor at 15, co-starring in the sitcom Leo and Me on Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) with future Tony Award-winner Brent Carver. Over the next three years, he juggled local theater and TV work, and landed a few roles in American TV movies shooting in Canada.

When he was 18, Fox moved to Los Angeles. He had a series of bit parts, including one in CBS' short-lived (yet critically acclaimed) Alex Haley/Norman Lear series Palmerstown USA, before winning the role of lovable conservative Alex P. Keaton on NBC's enormously popular Family Ties (1982-89). During Fox's seven years on Ties, he earned three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe, making him one of the country's most prominent young actors.

Fox returned to series television in 1996 with ABC's Spin City, portraying Michael Flaherty, New York's deputy mayor. He won critical praise, garnering three Golden Globe Awards, one Emmy Award, three Emmy nominations, a GQ Man-of-the-Year Award (in the TV comedy category), a People's Choice Award, and two SAG Awards. During his time on the show, shot entirely in New York City, Fox did everything from galloping bareback through Central Park to jumping into the Hudson River. He also served as executive producer, along with Gary David Goldberg, Bill Lawrence, David Rosenthal, and producer/director Andy Cadiff.

Spin City reunited Fox with Family Ties creator/executive producer Gary David Goldberg. Together with Bill Lawrence, Goldberg created the series expressly for Fox, establishing it as a joint venture of DreamworksSKG, Goldberg's UBU Productions, and Lottery Hill Entertainment (run by Fox and partner Danelle Black). Goldberg served as co-executive producer with Fox for Spin City's first and second seasons, and Lawrence stepped in during the third. For the fourth seasons, Rosenthal and Cadiff shared duties with Fox.

In other television work, Fox starred in Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water in 1994. He directed Teri Garr and Bruno Kirby in an episode of Tales From the Crypt and later directed an installment of the series Brooklyn Bridge.

Fox also had time during his busy TV work to became an international film star, appearing in over a dozen features showcasing his keen ability to shift between comedy and drama. These include the Back to the Future trilogy, The Hard Way, Doc Hollywood, The Secret of My Success, Bright Lights, Big City, Light of Day, Teen Wolf, Casualties of War, Life With Mikey, For Love or Money, The American President, Greedy, The Frighteners, and Mars Attacks!

Fox married his Family Ties co-star, actress Tracy Pollan, in 1988. Together they have three children. Inspired to find projects that his kids would enjoy, Fox has lent his voice to a variety of hit children's films since the early 1990s. He began as Chance the dog in Disney's Homeward Bound movies. In December 1999, he provided the voice of Stuart Little for the Sony feature of the same name, and in the summer of 2001 Fox's voice was heard as that of the lead in Atlantis The Lost Empire, his first animated feature for The Walt Disney Co.

Though he would not share the news with the public for another seven years, Fox was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's disease in 1991. Upon disclosing his condition in 1998, he committed himself to the campaign for increased Parkinson's research.

Fox announced his retirement from Spin City in January 2000, effective upon the completion of his fourth season and 100th episode. Expressing pride in the show, its talented cast, writers, and creative team, he explained that new priorities made this the right time to step away from the demands of a weekly series.

Though he maintains a strong commitment to his acting career and running Lottery Hill Entertainment, Fox has shifted a good deal of his focus and energies toward The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which he launched in May 2000, and its efforts to raise much-needed research funding for and awareness about Parkinson's disease.

Fox wholeheartedly believes that if there is a concentrated effort from the Parkinson's community, elected representatives in Washington, DC, and (most importantly) the general public, researchers can pinpoint the cause of Parkinson's and uncover a cure by 2010.

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