Two Cancers, One Lung, and Seven Summits

Your Stories: Conquering Cancer

While his teenage classmates were getting ready for school, then-13-year-old Sean Swarner was watching the water rise in the shower, his hair clogging the drain.

His first cancer diagnosis—and the subsequent treatment regimen—took an immense toll on his self-image and well-being. That morning in the shower, he remembers, all of the fear and despair overcame him: Sean collapsed to his knees, tears and tap water streaming down his face. “I remember looking at myself in the mirror,” he recalls, “and I couldn’t even recognize who was looking back.”

After a year of treatment, Sean reached remission. But then, two years later—during a follow-up with his oncologist—Sean and his parents received shocking news. His doctor had found a second cancer: an Askin sarcoma, a rare and aggressive tumor in his chest that eventually left him with only one functioning lung. Worse still, Sean’s chances of survival appeared slim.

In the years to follow, Sean became the first cancer survivor to summit Mount Everest, before eventually completing each of the world’s Seven Summits (the highest mountains on each of the seven continents). That includes three attempts on Mount Denali, the tallest mountain in North America and one of the world’s most dangerous—ultimately reaching the summit in 2017. “In my mind,” Sean recalls, “I kind of jokingly thought to myself, ‘If this fool who’s had two cancers and has one lung can climb to the top of the world, that might inspire some people.’”

In this episode of Your Stories, Sean joins host Dr. Mark Lewis to discuss how conquering cancer shaped his life and set him on a course to complete some of the world’s most prized adventuring achievements. He also talks candidly about the motivations behind these achievements and his hope that others will look at his accomplishments and take away a simple message: If a guy with one lung can do it, so can you.