Jim Valvano left behind a brilliant legacy with his coaching exploits, but the courage he demonstrated in his final days while battling cancer is what most remember him for.
That has endured not just with the video of his famous speeches at Reynolds Coliseum and the ESPY Award Show in 1993, but also with the final gift he bequeathed the world – The V Foundation.
The V Foundation is going strong but continues to thrive most when it receives the help of others. In that regard, it is a middle man. The Foundation takes donations and then funds research so that the right people get the valuable funds needed to find ways to eliminate cancer eventually.
This is the first in a five-part series that will touch on Jim Valvano and his legacy, how the V Foundation works, where they have come from, what they hope to do in the coming years, and how important the donors are – as well as many other topics. An important objective is to explain cancer in layman’s terms so that those who potentially have to fight it may better understand it beforehand.
While he was head coach at NC State University, Jim Valvano seemingly had an answer for any tactical approach that he faced from opponents. Whether a conventional method or an off-the-wall response, Valvano never coached with a script.
In his tenure in Raleigh, Valvano won national and conference titles while charming fans and rivals alike with his northern witticisms and friendly banter. His personality was unassailable. It seemed like no force in the world could ever take it away.
When facing mortality, it is akin to trying to win within a time limit but at the highest stakes possible. When cancer struck Valvano, he did what he always had done before on the sideline – he devised a plan of attack. In the biggest game of all, he took a long approach.
“What is important in life is to think three things,” Valvano said at the 1993 ESPY Award Show. “Where you started, where you are, and where are you going to be.”
Started in 1993 by Valvano as one of his final acts before he passed away at the age of 47, the V Foundation is closing in on three decades of fundraising that have provided valuable resources for those tasked with battling the disease. It was designed to function long after Valvano’s passing. That challenge has been met because Valvano’s message has staying power.
“I think Jim’s energy was something we saw that night in his (ESPY’s) speech when he announced the founding of the V Foundation,” V Foundation Senior Communications Manager Katie Sweet said. “That energy carries on today. That same message – the ‘Don’t give up’ message – applies to many people and things in life. It is a phrase that resonates, and the spirit behind it continues to resonate.”
Valvano’s legacy with the foundation is profound due to the efforts of those who have taken on the responsibility of representing the organization over the past 28 years. As of 2021, the V Foundation has raised 260 million dollars that have been funded for cancer research grants (an average of over nine million dollars per year), with 100 percent of direct donations going to cancer research in pursuit of a cure.
Dr. Steven Patierno is the Deputy Director of the Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, North Carolina. He began his pursuit to help eradicate cancer in 1981 as an undergrad at the University of Connecticut.
According to Patierno, what makes cancer exceedingly difficult to deal with is its ability to morph and survive treatment at the host's expense.
“The biology of cancer essentially allows tumor cells to function in what we think of as elevated evolution,” Patierno said. “In basic concepts of evolution, when there is pressure on a system of cells, the cells react to that pressure in a way to improve their own chances of survival. Tumor cells are especially skilled at adapting to external pressure. In the case of cancer, that would be chemotherapy.
“We know that chemotherapy can kill tumor cells. Tumor cells react to chemotherapy by changing their biology to make them resistant to those drugs. Tumor cells are exceedingly nimble at adapting to all kinds of stresses. Part of that is because the genome – the DNA – the way genes are regulated in tumor cells makes it much easier for them, compared to normal cells, to change the regulation of their genes so that they can develop resistance to any number of therapies.”
With 40 years of experience in cancer research and having personally expanded upon his work by receiving several grants during his time at Duke, Patierno knows the value of fundraising to facilitate funds for cancer research.
“It doesn’t just take a village or a city,” Patierno said. “It takes a planet. It takes all of us working together.”
While there is still a fight to be had, there have been moments of salvation for those whose lives have been saved through cancer research funded by donations solicited from the V Foundation.
Those moments provide a wonderful respite from the grind. The value of saving a life is infinite, and the recharge that comes from it spurs people forward. According to Sweet, men have a 50 percent chance of being diagnosed with cancer, while women have a 33 percent chance over their lifetime.
“I think it is wonderful how we can help people through cancer research,” Sweet said. “What I will say is that we want to help more. Cancer is everywhere. The stats are astonishing.”
Looking ahead, the V Foundation is geared to increasing fundraising. The reasoning is simple. Research is where prominent minds can find the cure.
“We would love to see more fundraising,” Sweet said. “We want the number of grants that we are awarding to go up and fund innovative research. It is like a race. We have got to get that research supported because that is where we are going to find those answers.”
Valvano’s game plan to help facilitate the defeat of cancer continues. In his final days, he assembled a structure that can endure through sheer will and constructed a team with the talent to win.
“Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities,” Valvano famously said at the closing of his ESPY’s award speech. “It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. Those three things are going to carry on forever.”
NEXT: In June, with the second release of the five-part series, IPS will look at some cancer terminology to help provide a better understanding while also touching on ways the average person can get more involved in the preventive side of beating cancer.
