How to find the best when the world hands you the worst

Author's note: Following are the comments I made at the 18th Annual Curing Kids Cancer Golf Tournament in Dallas.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned - no matter how big a city is, it’s still a series of small neighborhoods.

That’s true in Dallas where the folks at the Flying Horse Coffee Shop – and yes – the Rodeo Bar know me by name.

And it’s even true in a big city like London, where I worked in the 90s.

In the ancient, winding streets behind Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, I got to know the sandwich shop guys and local store owners.

But there’s one person that I remember vividly to this day. His name was Ziggy.

Ziggy was not a traditional Englishman. In fact, he was Polish Jew who settled in London in the 1960s. He ran a small office supply store. My colleague Grant Perry and I would often pop into his store to say hello and chat with him. Occasionally we’d all go out to lunch.

?Ziggy always had a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. He was a natural born storyteller and salesman. He was larger than life.

?One day, Grant and I were chatting with Ziggy and sharing some problems we were having at the office with a colleague. This particular colleague was miserable to work with. In fact, it’s fair to say that they were creating a toxic work environment.

?Ziggy got very quiet – which was unusual. He said very seriously: “I don’t understand people who want to make others miserable. You see, when I was a boy, I was in a Nazi concentration camp. Every day I saw misery. I saw death. I decided early in life that I would do everything I could to bring happiness to people’s lives.

?“On freezing days, we would all stand around burn barrels trying to stay warm. I’d do everything I could to make people laugh. Because maybe it would cheer them up. And maybe, they’d let me get a little close to the fire... and if I was lucky, they’d give me an extra crumb to eat.”

?We went back to work that day with a very different perspective.

?I tell you this story because it takes a special person to take the worst that this world has to offer and turn it into something good.

That’s the story of Grainne Owen and Curing Kids Cancer.

Most of you know our story. Our son Killian – was just four years old when he was diagnosed with cancer. He underwent chemotherapy and came within months of beating the disease only to relapse. He then had a bone marrow transplant – which is unbelievably tough on children.

He needed to get to 100 days post-transplant to be declared cancer free. He made it to 90 and the cancer came back.

?Unwilling to give up, Grainne discovered an experimental treatment at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Amazingly she gets Killian into the treatment. He became the first child in the world to be given this new targeted therapy.

?We were all set for a big Hollywood Happy Ending. But because it was the first time the treatment had been used; the dose was too small. It fought the cancer, but it wasn’t enough. And we lost Killian.

?It’s the worst thing this world could throw at us.

?And yet – it takes a special person to take the worst and turn it into something good.

?Grainne did just that. Creating Curing Kids Cancer to fund cutting edge pediatric cancer research. 18 years later, she’s raised more than $26 million.

?More important than the money, children’s lives have been saved because we’ve funded new successful therapies.

?Tonight, and tomorrow, it’s your turn. Everybody in this room has the opportunity to help. We want you to enjoy tonight’s food and fellowship. We want everybody on the golf course to have the best round of your lives.

?But don’t forget why you’re here. We need your financial support. I don’t care if it’s $10 or $10 thousand dollars. Because the world can be a tough place. And we need special people to turn it into something good.

?You are those special people.

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