Nicholas Umali
Nicholas shares his story of persevering through stage 4 cancer and how he views his diagnosis as a blessing that's given him a new perspective on life.
More Than Our Story
Brandon Throop
Brandon shares his inspiring and incredible story, from his surprise diagnosis with stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma to his aggressive treatment at Princess Margaret hospital in Toronto, Canada and his current remission from the disease. He also talks about his amazing fundraising efforts, his recent Guinness World Record attempt at the 2023 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and his next big goal for the future.
Highlights
Two months after the birth of our second child, Miles, I found a bump on my neck. No other symptoms, side effects, no crazy pain. Just something that I thought was pretty harmless.
I had an interesting story where I was prescribed chemotherapy. I did one round of treatment before they realized it was a bit more aggressive than they had initially thought. So the program involved me getting up PICC line put in and I had to have some spinal taps with chemo injected into my spine from my central nervous system.
I was very fortunate to receive the all clear in early March and just try to get back to rebuilding... Trying to get back to being active with my friends and my family. It it took a while to do that at the end of treatment... I couldn't do a flight of stairs without gasping for air.
The frustrating part about the diagnosis that a lot of people get, is that it's not in your control... cancer picked you that day.
I remember sitting there trying to figure out how to even put a hospital gown on properly and just no idea what was going on... This was never going to be the end... I was just wondering if there's a Guinness World record for the fastest marathon in a hospital gown.
I'm going to do something cool, different, and I'm going to tie it to a fundraiser for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, where I Received treatment for the six months... I missed out on the record by about 4 minutes, but more importantly, I crossed that finish line and I raised $121,000 for Princess Margaret to keep fueling their research to end cancer in our lifetime.
It's amazing how precise they can be with the medicine and the science behind it, but they give you this handbook of potential side effects... Everyone's different. How you respond or how you handle it.
It's a funny thing to go through because not a lot of people directly go through it, and sometimes you can feel a little bit isolated and not able to relate experiences.
Mindset really does matter in my view... and the support network is there to make that as easy as possible.
My dad and I set out in 2017 to tackle the six world major marathons. We got through five of them before COVID and cancer sort of put a bit of a delay on that, but we're happy that we're going to get to do number six in Tokyo this coming March.
It's not a journey you wish anyone to go through, but you can come out the other side, you can get through it. You can still maintain the fun in your life.
Everyone responds differently to challenges and adversity, my take away from my own experience is you don't have to go it alone. People want to help, friends, family, they want to help and see you achieve, and it's okay to lean on them and ask for help.
Mindset matters and just rising to every challenge, and breaking things down one day at a time... You don't go from 0 to 100... Today this is the goal and this is how I'm going to get better, and every day I'm going to be better than the version I was yesterday. You keep pushing forward with that and next thing you know, you're an IRONMAN - you're whatever your goal is: you're passing exams, you're cancer free, you're whatever that challenge might be.
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation
Help support the future of cancer breakthroughs and help the Princess Margaret Foundation conquer cancer in our lifetime.
Daniel
Daniel is an extremely curious person, a wealth of random knowledge and facts. Extremely passionate about a vast array of interests ranging from health to history, science to athletics, everything culinary and the list goes on. Trust us, you would want to be on his team for Trivial Pursuit.
Daniel is also years into his battle with brain cancer. He experienced a seizure while on a Zoom call at work in late 2020 and quite literally, his life changed within minutes. After his operation he started to talk about his story but had always known it was more than just him. From then, More Than Our Story became a PROJECT that has evolved into the starting point it is today.
Additional Profiles
Ryan Stark
Ryan shares his love of being creative, debunks some of the myths surrounding diabetes, and about what it's like living with this condition.
Eric Duplain
Eric Duplain defines generosity, kindness and selflessness, and possesses the sheer determination and talent to master whatever he sets his mind to.
Michelle de Clair
Michelle juggles many roles with pride: mother, wife, volunteer, her career; yet she maintains a humble, quiet resiliency, as a daily reminder of the dangers of COVID-19.
Kevin Culliney
Kevin Culliney advocates for cancer awareness and seeking out second opinions and alternatives. He shares his remarkable story of survival, from diagnosis with stage IV cancer.
Ryan Grant Little
Ryan Grant Little shares his story from serial entrepreneur to angel investor and food tech ambassador. He also talks about his ongoing charitable and humanitarian efforts.
Greg Robertson
Greg Robertson shares about his enthusiasm for triathlon, his ambassadorship for the Somersault race series and his goals for 2023 and beyond.
Dr. George Ackerman
Dr. George Ackerman advocates for increased awareness of Parkinson's disease in memory of his late mother who passed from this terrible affliction.
Ruthie Sloan
Ruthie shares her story of courage and determination as she balances motherhood, trail running, and getting diagnosed with cancer during COVID.
Daniel Hight
The inaugural profile is none other than Daniel Hight, founder of More Than Our Story.
Eric Pothen
Eric shares his story from struggling with an eating disorder, to coaching people to help heal their relationship with food and their bodies.
Embracing You Podcast: Daniel Hight
Our founder Daniel Hight joins Eric Pothen on his Embracing You podcast to share his story about his renewed fitness journey and his perception of his body.
Interview: I Have Cancer, Cancer Doesn’t Have Me
Our founder Daniel Hight is interviewed by Dr. George Ackerman for Together For Sharon on how he navigates life with his cancer diagnosis.
Stephen Glaus
Stephen shares his story of grit and determination of how he battles multiple sclerosis and his journey to becoming a three time IRONMAN.
Kieren O’Hanlon
Kieren opens up about his health challenges, and how he is still perfecting the balance of being a loving husband, father and his well-being.
Joe Tolles
Joe Tolles is a semi-retired, professional hockey player, CrossFit gym owner/operator, organ donor, and inspiration to others.
Mark Opauszky
Mark Opauszky shares his story of unbelievable resilience in his fight against necrotizing fasciitis.
Needs Improvement Podcast: Daniel Hight
Our founder Daniel Hight joins Nicholas Whitaker on his Needs Improvement podcast to share his thoughts on the impact of physical health on mental wellbeing.
Danielle Patrice
Danielle shares her incredible story of survival against domestic violence and how she now advocates and champions for those who have lost their own voice and agency to this evil.
Dr. Caesar Lim
Dr. Caesar Lim talks about his podcast The Capable Dads, where he and his co-hosts discuss topics related to fatherhood in an open and honest way.
Nicholas Whitaker
After his layoff, Nicholas Whitaker co-founded the Changing Work Collective, become a life and career coach and devoted himself to improving workplaces, leaders and work culture.
Ned Phillips
Ned shares his love for ultrarunning and where his mind goes when faced with the immense physical and mental strain that comes along with it.
Bob Knuckey
Bob Knuckey, 75-year-young, endurance athlete extraordinaire became a 2-time, age-group IRONMAN world champion this year in Nice, France.
Carol Schulte
Carol shares how her struggles with mental health led to her founding The Brave Initiative and become the bravest version of herself.
Brandon Throop
Brandon shares his story, from his diagnosis with non-Hodgkin lymphoma to his aggressive treatment and current remission from the disease. He also talks about his fundraising.
Jillian Best
Jillian Best shares her inspiring journey from liver transplant recipient to becoming a world record holding swimmer and the first transplant recipient to swim across Lake Ontario.
Steve Veasey
Steve Veasey candidly discusses his life, his epilepsy, and how his journey has brought him back full circle to his first love - illustration.