Jay Platt was a featured speaker at National Cancer Survivors’ Day, June 3, 2001. He was interviewed on CNN Sunday Morning. Jay, a retired Marine who has VHL, walked the Appalachian Trail in 1999 with one eye and a brain tumor.

"I’ve learned there’s something to be gained in all that we go through, especially the tough times," Jay said. "I think that having cancer has made me a better person. The Appalachian Trail became for me a metaphor for life. There are hills and valleys, just as there are ups and downs in life. You may be scaling a steep and difficult hill today, but over the crest of the hill there could be a beautiful valley, an easy walk down. A ‘never quit’ attitude is what keeps you going when almost every fiber of your being wants to give up, or when others say ‘it’ can’t be done."

As printed in the VHL Family Forum 9:2, June 2001. For permission to reprint, please contact VHL Family Alliance, editor@vhl.org. Further information is available from the VHL Family Alliance, info@vhl.org.