When Michael Moyles was 27, he received an injury that changed his life completely. He was stationed as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and played basketball for a small city-league in St. Louis. While defending the champion title, Moyles ended up butting heads with another player, an impact that caused him to lose consciousness for 30 seconds and temporarily paralyzed his right arm. Although the CT scan showed no serious injury and the doctors allowed him to return home the next evening, they decided to run an MRI scan, as a precaution. That’s when things started going downhill.

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As doctors gathered around, all looking at the screen, trying to determine what they’re seeing, Michael soon heard a worrying phrase “Mike, we’ve found something.” What followed afterward, was a year of tests and doctor visits, until almost a year later, Moyles finally heard his diagnosis — astrocytoma. It was brain cancer.

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Recalling the harrowing time of the diagnosis, Michael notes that it was also the time when he had proposed to his then-girlfriend, Angie. “Accepting the proposal of a healthy, young, strong, up-and-coming Air Force officer, she now found herself engaged to a terminally ill cancer patient,” he explained. They married six months after Mike was diagnosed.

Image credits: Michael Moyles

Despite having the love of his life by his side, the prognosis was grim. Doctors estimated that he’d have 6 or 8 years left, tops. But that was 20 years ago, and Michael is still kicking.

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On April 28th, 2001, on his first wedding anniversary, Michael went through his first surgery. Dr. Keith Black and his top team of neurosurgeons removed a 2.8-cm tumor from his right frontal lobe. Although the right frontal lobe is primarily responsible for memory, personality, and language, Moyles didn’t experience any significant changes, and within the next 6 months made a recovery.

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He was in remission for 4 years when a check-up scan in the spring of 2005 showed that the cancer was back. “Larger, faster-growing, and more aggressive, this time we couldn’t watch it for a year to see what it was doing,” Michael elaborated. He underwent a similar surgery once more, but since the tumors were reoccurring, doctors recommended chemotherapy. “This is a word that will strike fear into the heart of even the most hardened patient, and I was no exception,” Moyles added.

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Months of chemo followed until Michael discovered that exercise makes him feel better, especially running. Soon he was running his first marathon, all while going through chemotherapy. However, as he finished chemotherapy, cancer returned, therefore the oncologists decided to continue the treatment. Throughout the next 10 months Moyles continued chemotherapy, he ran two more marathons, had a daughter. But despite all his fighting, cancer grew resistant to the treatment and Mike had no choice, but to go for another surgery.

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The path that followed wasn’t easy. Michael faced a plethora of medical complications, that resulted in a piece of his skull being removed. Chemo, surgery, and radiation all were keeping cancer at bay and that allowed Moyles to fight for another day. He started running again and eventually created “Team Michael Moyles”. “My brother-in-law, Clint Janson, and I started the team in 2008, and by 2012 had raised almost $100,000 through running raises, giving motivations speeches, silent auctions, and a number of other endeavors” Mike explained.

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Recently, Michael’s nephew, Søren Janson, shared his story on Reddit, where it attracted attention, gathering almost 17k upvotes and 721 comments. “In my opinion, the best quality is his undying faith and perseverance, and absolutely refusing to give up”. Here’s how he put Michael’s story in his own words:

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“In 1999, At the age of 27, he was playing basketball and was hit hard in the head and knocked out. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because when they looked at his brain for concussion evidence, they found malignant brain cancer. They gave him 6 years to live. That was 20 years ago. In a couple of months, he was deeply inspired into running and was soon running marathons and doing triathlons. Three more months, the doctors called him in for another look at his brain, and very soon after cancer receded. It was like it was never there. Mike then started something called “Team Michael Moyles” (still exists today!) which raised money for cancer awareness. He then partnered with LiveStrong, and once ate dinner with the famous cyclist, Lance Armstrong. But cancer came back. They gave him a year or two to live. Three years passed, he was still alive and kicking, and then, a little while into his fourth year, it was seemingly cured again! This happened two more times. And during all of this, he:”

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“• ⁠Lost a quarter of his brain • ⁠Lost a third of his skull • ⁠Got an acrylic plate for a forehead • ⁠Became a Colonel in the Air Force • ⁠Worked in the top-secret Air Force installation, Cheyenne Mountain, at a very high ranking position – Became the head communications officer, worked with defense systems • ⁠Designed numerous satellites that were sent into space • ⁠Worked on satellite communications • ⁠Engineered stationary satellites, so soldiers in Iraq and other foreign places can communicate via revolutionary non-moving satellite dish receivers • ⁠Could identify any type of missile/rocket at a glance, including aircraft armament • ⁠Worked in the Pentagon for several years • ⁠Gave hundreds of evangelical and cancer awareness speeches at churches, gatherings, charity events, marathons • ⁠Flew T-37s and T-38s in the Air Force • ⁠Retired with a decent amount of money • ⁠had 42 rounds of radiation • ⁠had 29 rounds of chemotherapy • ⁠had 4 skull reconstructions • ⁠had 4 brain surgeries • ⁠His type of cancer has a survival rate of 9 months, he’s lived 20 years, longer than anyone in the world, ever.”

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“But, cancer came back for a 5th time in the winter of 2016. And it was worse than ever. It was cancer that had a 99.8% mortality rate. The same kind of cancer that killed Senator John McCain. He underwent a special treatment, called Optune, where several patches were placed into his head, 22/7, that gave off the electricity that kept the cells at bay, keeping them from advancing further. He hated it. But it worked. That is, until, a couple of days ago. The cells exploded. They are rapidly growing, and he’s been given about 10 months. He’s beaten cancer 4 times before, but this certainly does not look beatable. He is devastated. Prayers would be gladly accepted, and wish him good luck if you’re not religious. He is the greatest man I have ever known.”

Image credits: Michael Moyles