You Gotta Have Hope

One of my favorite stories to share when I speak to groups is about a man of which most of us have never heard of. His name is Glenn Cunningham. He was a poor farm boy from Kansas. His family lacked money even for school books, so Glenn earned his books by being the child that went to school early each morning to build a fire in the school to keep the students warm. Each night a man would leave wood and kerosene at the school and Glenn would skillfully start the fire that would warm the schoolhouse the next morning before the children arrived.

Unfortunately, one night, the man that left the kerosene and wood made a mistake and left gasoline instead of kerosene. Kerosene burns slowly but gasoline can explode. When Glenn knelt down to build the fire, everything exploded and Glenn was severely burnt. The explosion broke his legs as well.

Glenn woke up in the hospital to the terrible news that five of his toes had been so burned that they had no choice but to remove them. The doctors also wanted to amputate his legs since he would probably never walk again. But Glenn would have nothing of it. He told them that he needed his legs to walk. The doctors said it would be a miracle if he ever walked again.

A few months later while in a wheelchair, Glenn noticed that he could feel one of his remaining toes. Though very difficult, he was able to wiggle it. He was pumped. For weeks, he worked at moving this toe.

Weeks later, he tried to move his whole foot. After failing numerous times, one day he could feel his foot. With all of his might and energy, he stood up, holding onto a table. He was violently trembling (like a young baby learning to walk), but it didn’t matter. He was up and standing.

Everyone thought they had truly witnessed a miracle.

But Glenn was not done yet. He made a goal to walk and he did. And then walking led to running.

Four years later, Glenn wasn’t only running, he was winning. In fact, he set a new junior world record!

But he wasn’t done yet.

Glenn went on to college and kept getting faster. He decided to enter the Olympics. He not only won the gold, but he set a world record for running a mile in 4:13. He later ran a 4:01 and was the fastest man in history. In fact, it is my understanding that there is a banner hanging in Madison Square Garden honoring Glenn’s 4:01 accomplishment. It sits near all of the other professional championships and concert performances that have taken place in that historic venue.

Closer to home, I have a friend and mentor named Al who just a couple of years ago collapsed and was in very serious condition. Al is a US veteran and developed some heart problems due to his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Al had long hospital-stays with the longest being 102 days and spent 53 days in a coma. He told me that it would have been very easy to just give up and die. In fact, he saw people just quit and die while he was there. But he struggled through the hard work and pain to recover in order to come back to his family. He said it was all worth it.

I saw him a few months back and he is doing incredibly well. I am so proud of his perseverance and faith. It is my honor to call him my friend.

I once heard that suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance produces character. And character produces hope. Hope is what carries us through when we cannot see the outcome.

Just as Glenn and Al persevered, I hope that all of us reading this can find that same drive when things get tough. Bad things happen to good people. But with hope, the impossible seems to become possible.

Thanks for reading this and have a great weekend.

Glen Cavallo is a 30+ year healthcare executive that has chosen to share the many lessons he has learned with others. Glen provides inspirational keynote speeches at regional, annual and awards meetings, serves in advisory and board positions for companies and helps to mentor and coach leaders in all areas of business.