Live Strong Bracelet
by Lance LaHara

Live Strong Bracelet: More Than a Phenomenon

Why is the Live Strong bracelet so popular? Simple. It answers a need.

The Live Strong bracelet speaks up. The Live strong Bracelet shouts, “Live Strong” when the world whispers weakness and uncertainty.

The live strong bracelet began as a defiant response to Lance Armstrong’s cancer. In a world of rapid medical advance and scientific miracles, cancer is still the grim reaper of the age, cutting down the young, the old, the best and brightest. It strikes without warning, takes out even the seemingly healthy.

I remember back in the early seventies, when Ozzie Nelson, Mr. TV Clean Living himself whose only vice was ice cream, came down with pancreatic cancer. “Gosh,” he was reported to have said, “I thought if you didn’t drink and smoke, you’d live a long healthy life.”

“Not necessarily so,” whispered Weakness and Uncertainty, “Not necessarily so.”

Ozzie died, but Lance Armstrong didn’t. He fought back from testicular cancer, won the Tour De France,started a foundation in his name. He wore the Live Strong bracelet and inspired others to live strong. He said, “Before cancer I just lived. Now I live strong.” Bracelet after bracelet began to appear on famous and non-famous wrists—movie stars, media moguls, the mighty and the not-so-mighty, the rich and powerful. John Kerry even wore one when he made his acceptance speech at the Democratic nominating convention.

But the Live Strong bracelet is not a political statement. It’s personal. The Live Strong bracelet stands up to a killer that is apolitical and non-discriminatory. Most of us know someone with cancer. The Live Strong bracelet says, “Live strong; I stand with you” to that person, that friend, that family member, to all persons with cancer. In affliction, we all stand together.

And the Live Strong bracelet says, “I am responsible” for all men who wear it, for all men are susceptible to testicular cancer. When we wear the bracelet, we say to ourselves and others, “With this Live Strong bracelet, I pledge to myself and my family that I will be vigilant against this silent killer. I will take the initiative to have regular checkups and follow a plan of living that minimizes the chance of invasion.”

Awareness and action can and will do wonders, not only for those suffering now, but for those who might suffer in the future if the disease goes undetected. The Live Strong bracelet is a massive societal blow to the silent and deadly killer. Millions of dollars have been raised through the sale of the Live Strong Bracelet; millions more will be raised.

“Not necessarily so,” whispers Weakness and Uncertainty.

“You two are history,” replies the Live Strong Bracelet.

Lance LaHara writes unique opinion pieces on life topics for PulseMed.org. His formal education was literature and anthropology, but his real world background is civil rights and intercultural communication.

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