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Two winners: The role models we need

"When the going gets tough. ..."

There are all sorts of endings to that phrase besides the expected one.

During recent days we have read and seen reports about two people who looked beyond themselves when the going got tough.

One is internationally acclaimed. He's Lance Armstrong, winner of the Tour de France, a bicycling competition that pushes personal physical endurance to its extremes.

Armstrong's feat is more remarkable because of his recovery from testicular cancer that at one time appeared to be fatal.

During his recovery, rather than dwell on his own medical problems and limitations, he worked to raise money to help in the fight against cancer and reached out to encourage other cancer victims to retain hope for themselves.

One of the lives he touched was that of Richie Martin, a Tiffin teenager who was battling his own cancer, non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Martin also was not content to focus only on his own condition and hopes for a cure. He and his supporters raised $7,000 for Armstrong's cancer foundation. As reported on Tuesday's Lifestyle page, Martin and Armstrong have become friends.

The two &emdash; a world class athlete and a Northwest Ohio teen &emdash; certainly provide the type of role model that is said to be lacking in 1999.

They react to adversity &emdash; in this instance life threatening adversity &emdash; by helping others.

What a relief from the whining and blaming that we so often hear.

It's a wonderful thing that these two young men &emdash; one 27 and the other 16 &emdash; have cancer on the run. They were winners before they accomplished that.

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