'No one on this earth like Dick Vitale': Broadcaster's fight against childhood cancer continues
LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. — At the entryway to Dick Vitale’s home nests a framed passage of "The Man in the Arena" by Theodore Roosevelt. Part of the segment reads, "the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena. ... who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause."
By the looks of Vitale's staircase, his cause – as a 43-year college basketball broadcaster – has afforded him with Hall of Fame enshrinements, awards, memorabilia and photos of him with every celebrity from Jennifer Lopez to Pope Benedict XVI.
But it’s in Vitale’s garage, next to his beloved black Mercedes, that he’s most excited to show off a drawer with hand-written letters from children who’ve battled pediatric cancer. They acted as an emotional resuscitator when he'd been feeling down in his seven-month battle with the disease.
Vitale pulls them out as if each letter is a piece of gold. One letter from a cancer survivor, Katelyne, reads: "Dear Mr. Vitale, I have been thinking about you and praying for you. You truly are inspirational and I hope to pass on to you what you have taught me and many others. You are not alone! We are all in this together! Stay strong and positive. We love you."
'CANCER JUST GOT THEIR ASS KICKED': Dick Vitale's signature voice is back
SPORTS NEWSLETTER: Sign up now for exclusive content sent to your inbox
If Vitale's wattage is at a 10 during his live television broadcasts, consider it a 20 when he's talking about raising money for cancer research. Recently told by doctors his lymphoma is in remission, Vitale said his resolve to fight for others has been further ignited by his experience.
"Tony Colton was 17, battled cancer for seven years," Vitale says, "and on his death bed he told me not to stop fighting for people like him. I told him, 'until my last breath.' "
"Each and every single text, letter or social media message, he literally feels it," says daughter Terri, tears streaming down her face. "He speaks at funerals, talks to families in the hospital about to lose their child. The most heart-wrenching times, my Dad doesn't shy away. He'd die trying to protect those kids."
Vitale develops personal relationships with families behind the scenes, while passionately making his care for them public. One 10-year-old boy, Cannon Wiggins, is going through stage 4 Neuroblastoma, and Vitale shared a powerful message his mother Melissa Wiggins wrote. In it, she tells her son her "heart bleeds for your pain."
The genesis of Vitale's deep association with pediatric cancer came from a little girl, Payton Wright. Diagnosed with medulloepithelioma – a rare form of brain cancer – Payton became close with Vitale while she was going through chemotherapy and became paralyzed from the waist down because of a tumor's compression of her spine. Payton died when she was 5.
Vitale says he hasn't been the same since. He has raised nearly $50 million through his V Foundation galas for children, with the next one – May 6 – expected to hit home the most.
"I'm going through these treatments where I'm black and blue all over from needles ... and I'm a grown man," Vitale says, tears welling in his eyes. "And these kids ... they shouldn't have to ... I can't take it. I just can't. It sucks. It's so unfair.
"No Mom and Dad should have to go through what I went through with all these tests, bloodwork and scans, watching their child do that. Are you kidding me?"
Payton's father, Patrick Wright, says, "When he got cancer ...I thought, 'Cancer doesn't know who it's messing with' when it comes to Dick. If he's hurting physically, his spirit just keeps getting stronger. Dick has a rare gift and talent people on the outside maybe don't understand or see. He has this emotional equity that never runs out."
Payton's mother, Holly Wright, adds: "Who he is as a man helps keep our daughter's legacy alive. There's no one on this earth – no one – like Dick Vitale."
Sitting at a restaurant near his home in Lakewood Ranch, a passerby enthusiastically tells Vitale, "Congratulations" in reference to his cancer fight. Vitale smiles and gestures to the fan. Under his breath, though, he says: "Congratulations? We've still got work to do."
Follow college basketball reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson