Today I read an article about Sean Swarner. Sean is preparing to climb Carstensz Pyramid in West Papua New Guinea. The climb up Carstensz will be a challenge, but nothing like the climbs Sean has already completed, and I’m not talking about his first attempt to climb Carstensz or the other seven peaks he’s climbed.

When Sean was 13 he was diagnosed with Advanced Stage IV Hodgkins Disease and given three months to live. After a gutsy two year climb, Sean conquered his cancerous mountain and his disease went into remission.

At age 16, cancer struck again. This time it was Askin’s sarcoma. Sean had a tumor on his right lung and a dismal prediction that he would be dead within two weeks. However, through Sean’s unrelenting toughness, he was able to scale the Askin’s peak as well and go on to lead a normal life.

Swarmer is now climbing each of the tallest nine peaks in the world. Like most of us scaling the worlds tallest mountains, he carries sleeping and cooking gear, a change of clothes, and his passport. However, unlike most of us climbing the highest peaks in the world, Sean carries one more thing...

A flag that says, “Dedicated to all those affected by cancer in this small world!! Keep Climbing!!”

Swarmer’s goal is to plant that flag at the top of each of the highest peaks encouraging those fighting cancer to keep fighting, and giving them the hope that they will overcome their disease as he did his.

Climbing Carstensz Pyramid won’t be nearly as difficult as beating cancer, but it won’t be any picnic either.

I don’t want to elaborate on my personal experience in West Papua New Guinea too much. You can read about my climb of Carstensz Pyramid here to get all the details of the hoops you have to jump through to reach the top of Carstensz.

Suffice it to say this won’t be a simple climb for Sean. However, Sean, if you’re reading this, best of luck and don’t give up. And, to all those cancer patients Sean is climbing for, I too want to say...

“Keep Climbing!!”