Colonia athlete triumphs over cancer
BY SERGIO BICHAO • STAFF WRITER • JULY 24, 2010
WOODBRIDGE — Tim Gigl made it through the finish line on Sunday but he's still not done.
The 25-year-old Colonia resident competed for the first time in the 10th Nautica New York City Triathlon, something the former youth soccer coach never imagined he'd ever be able to do seven years ago when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.
After the cancer diagnosis, Gigl put his studies on hold at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. He lost his hair, suffered through debilitating cancer treatments, and had to walk with crutches after doctors removed a part of his femur. "The doctors had faith I would make a full recovery in terms of my health, but in terms of my athletic ability, that was up in air. At the time, I didn't care," he recalled.
Gigl beat the cancer in 2003 and his since regained much of his athletic ability. He completed his history degree in 2007, is now working at a fitness and wellness center in Scotch Plains, and spends his free time writing. About a year ago his friend Brian Burkert, who has competed in the triathlon, invited Gigl and another friend, Howard McCallen, to compete as a relay team in the swimming, biking and running races. After training for months, Gigl and his Team Survivor placed 19th, finishing in 2 hours, 51 minutes and 30 seconds. Now he's finishing a novel based on some of the people he met during his years in treatment.
"My biggest concern was to be normal again. To do the things I enjoyed before treatment. . . and getting back into the shape I was in pre-cancer," he said. Some of the young people he met while in treatment inspired him to start writing his novel when he was a senior in college.
"At first, when I was in that hospital, I was thinking, "Why me? This is not fair.' All my friends were out having the time of their lives, partying, having all the freedom, and here I was in a hospital bed," he recalled. "But sitting next to a 3-year-old kid (battling cancer), I thought, here is a 3-year-old with no idea what he's facing. That puts things into perspective."
During treatment he befriended 16-year-old cancer patient named Dan who helped Gigl get involved with support groups. While Gigl recovered completely, Dan relapsed and passed away soon after. "It's a sad story to tell. He was someone I looked forward to spending a lot time with. It's not the prettiest image to remember."
In writing "Yellow Ribbon Pirates," Gigl wanted to focus on people's courageous battles against debilitating illness. The story is narrated by a 20-year-old who, after being diagnosed with cancer, becomes friends with another patient, a 4-year-old boy. The narrator helps his young friend imagine a pirate adventure that becomes a metaphor for their treatment and a "cathartic process for the narrator."
"Unfortunately, passing away from cancer is not always the most dignified way to go. But characters in the story die in heroic fashion, in a blaze of glory. It's how he wants to remember them." The characters are fiction but based on real life, he said.
"These are people who touched my life. I wanted to both show what happened to them and attempt to remember them in a way they deserve to be remembered."
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