EP 20 - Keep Climbing: How I Beat Cancer and Reached the Top of the World

Guest Bio: Sean Swarner

Sean Swarner's first goal was to literally crawl eight feet from the hospital bed to the bathroom. He went on to Redefine Impossible by climbing 29,035 feet to the top of Mt. Everest with one lung! From there he stood atop the highest point on all seven continents, skied to the South and North Poles, and completed the World Championship Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii.

Sean has been interviewed by Steve Harvey, CBS Evening News, Fox & Friends, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, Huffington Post, Outside the Lines, Sports Center, Washington Post, USA Today, Sports Center, and countless others. His numerous articles with thought leaders such as Sir Richard Branson and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu put him in a category by himself.

The first cancer survivor to stand on the top of the world! With only one functioning lung, a prognosis of fourteen days to live, and being in a medically-induced coma for a year, Sean Swarner is the first cancer survivor to stand on top of the world… Mt. Everest. Sean has broken through defined human limitation redefining the way the world views success.

Sean was diagnosed with two deadly, different, and unrelated forms of cancer, once at
the age of thirteen and again at the age of sixteen. After an incredibly poor prognosis,
and being read his last rites, Sean astounded the medical community when he survived
both these brutal diseases. He realized that after defeating cancer twice, no challenge
would ever be too great, no peak too high.

Sean proved his theory when he crested the peak of Mt. Everest. As the first cancer
survivor to do so, Sean decided to continue climbing and has since topped the highest
peaks in Africa, Europe, South America, Australia, Antarctica, and North America, thus
completing the “7-Summits”. Upon skiing to both the South and the North Poles, Sean
completed the Explorer’s Grand Slam.

With the completion of the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, Sean is the only
person in history to accomplish these inhuman feats.

As Sean continues to defy the odds, test his own endurance and inspire and motivate
people around the world, he shares his message of healing, hope, and triumph with
cancer patients worldwide. Sean also serves as a source of inspiration as the founder of
the non-profit organization, The CancerClimber Association, as author of numerous
books, as a motivational speaker to corporations, universities, and other organizations
around the globe, and as a performance and executive coach.