How a total stranger from Tennessee turned out to be my brother.
BY Ryan Hamner
PUBLISHED March 17, 2018
Ryan Hamner is a four-time survivor of Hodgkin lymphoma, a musician and a writer. In 2011, he wrote and recorded, "Where Hope Lives" for the American Cancer Society and the song for survivors, "Survivors Survive" used in 2015 for #WorldCancerDay. Currently, he operates his website for those affected by cancer, 2surviveonline.com and drinks a ridiculous amount of coffee per day.
"We're brothers, you know?" That's what my buddy Sam always said.
"We're gonna' go bear huntin' when we get out of here," he would say.
"Well, you know I'll be ready," I'd say back. Knowing I didn't have the patience to hunt anything.
"We're gonna' go bear huntin' when we get out of here," he would say.
"Well, you know I'll be ready," I'd say back. Knowing I didn't have the patience to hunt anything.
Sam was from Tennessee. He was a 65-year-old who had lung cancer. We met at the Hope Lodge in Atlanta while I was going through my bone marrow transplant and he was being treated at the local VA hospital.
If he didn't tell you, you would've never known that Sam was battling lung cancer. As a matter of fact, when I first saw him, he was standing at the edge of the road that ran out in front of the Hope Lodge, smoking a cigarette, of all things. He had a very unbending look on his weathered face. I thought maybe he was taking a break from the daily stresses of being the caretaker - standing there, preoccupied with worry about the future.
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