B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

“Win or lose, your dog treats you the same way,” said Mount Everest

climber, world adventurer and cancer survivor Alan Hobson.

The overcapacity crowd that came to support Hoag Hospital’s 14th

annual Circle 1000 Cancer brunch at the Four Seasons Hotel, Newport

Beach, roared with approval.

Hobson, 43, was told by his doctors that he may have three years to

live. “I plan to live at least 33 years,” replied the small man with the

infinite spirit and boundless will.

Hobson was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia in August 2000,

just as he was about to begin an expedition to the lowest point in the

world, in ocean water near the Philippines. Three years earlier,

following two failed attempts to reach the summit of Everest, Hobson

arrived at the top of the world on May 23, 1997.

“Never use the word conquer,” he told the audience of more than 500

local Hoag supporters sharing breakfast with a true champion. “Everest is

never conquered. Occasionally she tolerates momentary success ... and I

can assure you, Everest is a she.”

“Will you ever go back?” questioned one woman in the crowd.

“Never,” replied the Canadian athlete, who among other accomplishments

is a marathon runner, hang-gliding enthusiast, white water kayaker, ice

rafter, rock climber and parachutist. Hobson is also a journalist and

writer who has recently published a book on his Everest experience titled

“From Everest to Enlightenment ... An Adventure of The Soul.”

The book, as a reflection of the man, is a highly spiritual romp, a

coming of age for an athlete in search of self and finding pieces of

life’s meaning on the road to the pinnacle of the Earth.

Hobson has learned that it’s OK to fail in life, but not OK to fold.

Today, Hobson climbs medical mountains. “I have learned from cancer that

we do not survive the disease by fighting it. We must instead flow with

it, flow with the force of a river,” he said.

Hobson also shared that he welcomed his chemotherapy and drank the

volatile fluid as if it were healing orange juice.

“There are few challenges in life greater than a life-threatening

illness,” Hobson said. “Perhaps the biggest lesson learned under such

circumstance is that if we are what we do in life, then when we don’t do

it ... we aren’t.”

For anyone who is consumed by their pursuit of a goal, this

realization comes as a major slap in the proverbial face. Hobson said

that he also learned that running away from fear only makes it grow

bigger.

“Advancing on fear will make it shrink,” he told the crowd that had

grown silent during his presentation, which was infused with audio and

video images of his Everest expeditions projected on large screens at

either end of the Four Seasons ballroom. “We are not human doings ... we

are human beings.”

Hobson said people should not worry about what they do, but should

concern themselves with who and what they are and how they interface with

others. His message was chilling, especially in light of his battle with

leukemia.

“A woman came up to me recently at an event who had never met me, yet

knew of my reputation as an athlete and summiteer. She looked me up and

down from head to toe a couple of times, and then said, ‘You’re not much.

You’re so small.’ I paused for a moment and then told her, ‘He’s inside,’

” Hobson said.

For this man, the challenge in life is on the inside. “Seventy-five

percent of what we accomplish is due to the aspect of mental achievement,

even the realm of physical challenges,” said the man who has mastered

many mountains in life. He claims that his mantra is simple. Just two

words -- “can” and “will.”

“If you are persistent, you can do the dream,” he added. “Summits are

not places far away. Life can change in a moment. Every day is a gift.

Make it a celebration.”

The crowd stood to applaud with more than a few tears and great spirit

filling their heart. Alan Hobson changed lives for one hour in Newport

Beach.

Proceeds of more than $450,000 raised at the Circle 1000 brunch will be allocated to the Hoag Cancer Center’s Cell Biology Lab for dendritic

cell programs for use with vaccines. Additionally, Circle 1000 has

earmarked $125,000 toward a pledge of $500,000 to support the Breast

Imaging Center and cancer-related services at the new Hoag Hospital

Women’s Pavilion.

The event was organized by Hyla Bertea, chairwoman; Sandy Sewell,

founding chairwoman; and Sheryl Anderson, underwriting chairwoman.

Significant donors in the audience included Arden Flamson, Jacqueline

Dillman, Lin Auer, Susan Barlett, Sherry Cagle, Pat Cox, Nora Jorgenson

Johnson, Betty Grazer, Kathy Schoenbaum, Ginny Ueberroth, Janet Curci

Walsh, Mary Buckingham, Teddie Ray, Jodi Greenbaum, Stephanie McClellan,

Vesta Curry, Elizabeth Vincent, Lula and Marion Halfacre, Pat Allen and

Judy Steele.

Circle 1000’s 14-year fund-raising effort exceeds $4 million. Such

efforts increase the flow of Hobson’s river in search of a cure. Hobson

and his wife, Cecilia, residents of Canada, embraced on stage as the

applause from the gathering continued.

“I have many more mountains to climb,” he said. And he will do just

that.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.