Foyle has a contagious smile and boundless energy despite having had a heart transplant to fix a hole in her heart. She never gave up.
Left: After having a heart transplant, Lana-Emily Foyle, 14, is now raising money for the Evelina Children’s Heart Organization, where she had her treatment. Right: Fellow Olympic torchbearer Paul Cabban, 70, has been battling myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, for 12 years. By Chun Su-jin
HASTINGS, the United Kingdom - When the Taliban’s explosives hit the armored vehicle that Martyn Compton was traveling in on Aug. 1, 2006 in Afghanistan, life hung in the balance for the brave British soldier, who is now 28.
His three fellow servicemen were killed instantly. But Compton was luckier, as he emerged from a coma three months later to find his fiancee, Michelle, praying beside his hospital bed. However, he had severe third-degree burns covering 70 percent of his body and face. Doctors were able to rebuild his ears and nose, and his fiancee replenished his will to live.
Chun Su-jin
Compton, now happily married with a 9-month-old son, is working as a fundraiser for servicemen and women injured in action. Last Tuesday, at the seaside resort town of Hastings, he got to cherish a special new memory by serving as an Olympic torchbearer for his country.
Compton was nominated as one of 16 torchbearers for this leg of the journey by Hugh Robertson, Britain’s sports minister who was also on-hand to congratulate the brave war veteran. The fellow runners, including this reporter, were humbled by the moving stories of Compton and others like him with equally remarkable tales to tell.
Take, for example, Lana-Emily Foyle, a 14-year-old who has long dreamed of being an Olympic gold medalist.
Bubbly in spirit and positive in attitude, Foyle has a contagious smile and boundless energy, despite having had a heart transplant to fix a hole in her heart. She never gave up, refusing to abandon Olympic dream, and is now raising money for the Evelina Children’s Heart Organization, where she had her treatment. Last Tuesday, after carrying the Olympic flame around Hastings, she ran and hugged her mom who had nominated her.
And let us not forget Paul Cabban, who has been battling myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, for 12 years, including having a stem cell transplant. A marathoner, he serves as president of Hastings Runners, where he’s been a member since 1987. Despite his illness, he refused to quit running and has already competed in more than 200 half marathons. Cheered on by his club members last week, the 70-year-old boldly said, “I don’t have time to be old.”
Such against-the-odds stories are humbling, heart-rending and inspiring. This was especially the case for Sarah Hatton, 41 years old, a torchbearer who fought through the tears on the bus to the relay route but kept enough English humor in reserve to keep a smile on everyone’s faces.
“I knew I’d be crying so I wore water-proof mascara,” she said.
Hatton said she felt “humbled” to be participating in the relay, but she equally deserves her place. This iron-willed lady has already lost four stone in her battle against colitis, a digestive disease, and related complications. An aerobics instructor, she inspired her students by continuing to teach five classes a week with a colostomy bag. During her three-year fight against the chronic disease she has stayed the course, and was nominated by her community as a torchbearer.
However, it was perhaps I who should have been most humbled by these fantastically brave people and their never-say-die spirit. As a reporter covering the Olympics, I was nominated by the International Olympic Committee to serve as a torchbearer for London 2012, which officially gets under way on Friday, after the Korean alpine city of Pyeongchang won on its third attempt to host the Winter Games, in 2018.
Oona Murihead, a member of the London 2012 Games’ Organizing Committee, said she received 3,000 applications for 500 torchbearer’s positions in the Sussex area alone. “Every story was so touching that I cried,” said Murihead.
With just days before the Games begin, a festive spirit is gripping many parts of the United Kingdom and torchbearers are making headlines. One proposed to his girlfriend; another was pictured in a wheelchair with his fellow war veterans.
As I was visiting Hastings for the first time, I knew little about the town aside from the famous battle that took place there in 1066 battle, resulting in William the Conqueror’s victory. As a local tour guide put it, Hastings is “the birthplace of England.”
But after running the torch relay, I also know this: It’s a town filled with warmth for strangers. There were hundreds of locals lining the path of the Olympic flame, and they cheered, clapped, and smiled as the flame approached and passed. Some even asked to be photographed with me and the torch.
“Congratulations, you are an Olympian,” said one Hastings local as I jogged by. This cheerful gentleman then headed off with his family to the hustle and bustle of the old town area. When I reflected on this later, it struck me that he had as much claim to the title as I did. We were both bound by the fraternal spirit that the Olympic flame represents.
The flame will reach the Olympic cauldron on Friday in London in time for what will surely be another amazing opening ceremony, ahead of two weeks of touching human drama. With more inspiring stories set to unfold before our eyes, let the Games begin!
전신화상에도…성화봉송 한국기자 '울린' 사연
[런던올림픽 앞두고] ‘빛나는 순간’
중앙일보 전수진 기자, 성화 봉송 참가기
전신화상 입은 아프간 참전용사
“살아있어 다행” 가족과 눈물 포옹
#1. 아프가니스탄 참전용사 마틴 콤슨(28)에게 인생은 완벽했다. 2006년 8월 1일, 장갑차로 이동 중 탈레반에게 폭탄 공격을 받기 전까지는. 동료 3명은 즉사했고 그는 3개월 동안 혼수상태에 빠졌다. 가까스로 깨어났지만 전신화상으로 얼굴마저 망가졌다. 거울을 보기도 싫었다. 하지만 약혼녀 미셸은 달랐다. 어서 결혼하자고 이끌었다. 용기를 얻어 새 삶을 시작했다. 자신과 같은 참전용사에게 희망을 주는 일이다. 새 삶은 그에게 새로운 타이틀을 선사했다. 런던 올림픽 성화봉송 주자다. 17일(현지시간) 영국 남동부 서식스의 작은 해변도시 헤이스팅스에서 그는 부인 미셸과 9개월 된 아들 아치가 지켜보는 가운데 인생 최고의 300m를 달렸다. “살아 있어서 다행이다”라는 그는 완주 후 아들과 부인을 오래오래 포옹했다.
#2. 마라톤 없이는 못 살던 헤이스팅스 토박이 폴 캐번(70)은 1999년 골수에 종양이 생겼다는 진단을 받았다. 투병 중에도 트랙에 나가 걸으며 투지를 다졌다. 그러다 줄기세포 이식으로 새로운 삶을 얻었고 지금까지 하프마라톤만 200회 넘게 뛰었다. 17일, 그는 자신의 고향에서 마라톤 동호회원들의 환호를 받으며 성화를 봉송했다. 뛰진 못했다. 올봄, 몸 상태가 갑자기 나빠졌기 때문이다. 오른손엔 성화, 왼손엔 목발을 짚고 천천히 걸었다. 그를 위해 헤이스팅스의 모든 시민은 아낌없이 박수를 보냈다. “ 계속 뛸 거예요. 늙고 병든 채 인생을 낭비할 순 없잖아.” 그의 소감이다.
#3. 라나 포일(14). 장대높이뛰기 선수로 올림픽 금메달리스트가 꿈이다. 2년 전, 연습 중에 이상하게 숨이 가빴다. 병원에 갔더니 심장에 작은 구멍이 있다고 했다. 심장이식수술을 받은 그는 특유의 낙천적 성격으로 “난 심장을 두 개나 받았다”며 농담하곤 했다. 어머니 루스 포일은 런던 올림픽 조직위원회에 편지를 썼다. 성화봉송 주자로 딸을 뽑아달라는 내용이었다. 그리고 라나 포일은 17일, 헤이스팅스 구간의 첫 번째 주자로 발걸음도 가볍게 뛰었다. 구간이 끝나자마자 그를 기다리고 있던 엄마에게 달려가 “사랑해 엄마”라고 외쳤고, 엄마는 딸을 안으며 울었다.
런던 올림픽 성화봉송의 모토는 “당신이 빛날 순간(Your moment to shine)”이다. 17일 기자와 함께 헤이스팅스 구간을 완주한 주자는 모두 16명. 그들은 인생 최고로 반짝반짝 빛나는 순간을 맞았다. 봉송 시작을 앞둔 17일 오후 3시, 헤이스팅스 시청에 모인 주자들은 서로의 이야기를 나누며 눈물을 글썽였다. 세라 해턴(41)은 “방수 마스카라를 하고 오길 잘했다”고 농담하며 “난 여기에 있을 자격이 없는 것 같다”고 했지만 아니었다. 에어로빅 강사인 그는 대장염을 극복한 의지의 여인이다. 6개월간 대변 주머니를 차고도 에어로빅을 가르쳤다고 한다. 국제올림픽위원회(IOC) 미디어 사무국을 통해 추천받은 기자가 민망할 정도로 동료 주자들의 감동 스토리는 가슴을 울렸다.
런던조직위 서식스 지역 성화봉송 책임자인 우나 뮤리헤드는 “지역 주민 중 500명을 뽑는데 3000명 넘게 지원했다”며 “모두의 사연이 애틋해서 선정 과정에서 울지 않은 이가 없다”고 말했다. 그는 “런던 올림픽의 꽃은 고군분투하며 살아가는 보통 사람들의 성화 봉송이다”라고 강조했다.
8000명의 성화봉송 주자가 70일간 영국 전역 8000마일(1만2875㎞) 구간을 샅샅이 훑으며 올림픽을 지역 축제로 승화시키고 있다. 무게 800g, 길이 800㎜의 성화가 영국인을 하나로 묶어내는 것이다. 헤이스팅스 시민의 반응도 뜨거웠다. 성화 주자가 달리는 길가는 물론 건물 옥상·발코니를 가득 메운 이들은 본 적도 없는 낯선 주자에게 열띤 함성을 보냈다. 인류를 하나로 묶고 서로를 격려해 주는 것, 올림픽의 힘이다.
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