"Bros for Life"
I first must point out that Alec Ingram’s battle with Osteosarcoma and the extremely rare side effect of causing his heart to fail is the only reason why I was given the opportunity to meet him. However, this is not the reason why he is a rare individual.
On the outside, Alec is no different than any other 11-year-old, but when I was given the opportunity for the two of us to hang out Tuesday afternoon, I found that he is far from ordinary.
There is something about Alec that is unexplainable, making him stand out. It’s not the backpack he is always wearing that carries his Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) which is a kind of mechanical heart pump or the attention he has received. Instead the attention he receives is a reflection of the extraordinary individual people have come to love.
It is difficult to find words to describe Ingram. Sports fans would understand as there is an unexplainable, special characteristic that Michael Jordan, Jack Nicholas, and Michael Phelps all share. They have the “it” factor.
Ingram has this characteristic, the characteristic that few people are blessed with: the ability to touch the lives of others without trying or inspire them to achieve greatness. He has that “it” factor. I did not know Alec before he was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, but I have no doubt he was just as special then as he is now.
It’s hard to find anything positive about cancer. Except in this case. It has allowed Ingram to touch thousands of lives, and those people each become a better person from knowing him, including myself. Better yet, I can also call Alec my friend and since writing this article we have become "Bros for Life"
