Published August 26, 2010 02:47PM
Former Canadian triathlon national team member Frank Hayday has only a few months to live. He was able to meet one of his final goals recently when he was able to meet cancer survivor Lance Armstrong.
One of the last things on Frank Hayday’s bucket list is to shake Lance Armstrong’s hand. The thought of it sends shivers up his spine.
While he doesn’t have much time left — perhaps three or four months before cancer kills him — Hayday got the chance Wednesday to see the seven-time Tour de France winner in person, when Armstrong spoke about his fight with testicular cancer to a crowd of more than 1,000 people.
“I feel I have a lot in common with Lance,” said Hayday, a former triathlete who previously qualified for the Canadian national triathlete team and raced in Cancun. “Although I’m not at the level Lance Armstrong is at, I certainly appreciate his dedication in achieving what he did. I would love to sit down and have a one-on-one with Lance.”
Hayday, 65, beat lymphoma in 1993, but now has mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that develops in the protective lining of the lungs or other organs. Radiation is not an option since it would damage his lungs, so Hayday’s treatments have ended. Yet he remains positive and even inspired to cheer up former colleagues, one of whom he bumped into before Armstrong’s presentation at the Shaw Conference Centre in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.