We all Need a little Inspiration Sometimes

I am really excited for this post because this will be my first time interviewing someone on my blog. When I was at the Editor’s Showcase for Food and Nutrition I met a very inspirational person, and he really made an impression on me. Thankfully, he was willing to do an interview with me so I could share his story with all of you. Writing a blog about living a healthy and satisfying life, I felt his story fit right in. His name is Jothy Rosenberg, and he is a two-time cancer survivor, amputee, entrepreneur, and now author. He lost his leg to a rare cancer at the young age of 16, then a lung at 19- and was told after 10 months of brutal chemo that he’d not survive. In teenage rebellion, he went to Utah and skied for 100 days straight because he “wanted to die doing something he loved.” Now he is a grandfather living a healthy and thriving life at the age of 53. I mentioned this before, but just in case you missed it, a few of his accomplishments include:

• Open water swim between Alcatraz and San Francisco- 16 times
• Nearly 200 miles in the annual Pan-Mass Challenge bike race -7times and raised $52,000
• Double black-diamond skier
• Founded six start-up tech companies and earned a PhD
• Author of a new book Who Says I Can’t

This interview is a little long, but I didn’t want to cut anything out because I think his story is so important and really inspirational. With out further adieu: An Interview with Jothy Rosenberg.



Q: After losing a leg and nearly one lung, what motivated you to become an avid skier?

I was as devastated after losing a leg at age sixteen, a lung at age nineteen, having a year of chemotherapy, and all the while thinking I would die any day. It felt like I had three disabilities: the visible one (leg), the invisible one (lung), and a psychological one (thinking I would die). To get through life at all I needed to find a way to regain a sense of self-confidence. I did that through athletics. I’d been skiing since I was a kid, so I went to Utah to become a ski bum, skiing for 100 days straight and achieving such black-diamond skill that I was offered a job as a ski instructor. My ability to ski better than most two-leggers was the first of many physical triumphs.

Q: You are a competitive athlete in so many sports. Do you have a favorite? Why?

My favorite competitive sport is cycling. I discovered this community of fund-raiser bike riders. Their camaraderie, their commitment and their energy is palpable. And it has become addictive for me. Most of all, this is where I learned that just doing what I needed to do for me actually helped other riders (especially if I passed them on a hill).

Q: I understand that you have raised more than $100,000 for cancer research, AIDS and other charities? How did you accomplish this?

It all started with the AIDS ride. A colleague said to me, “it’s sad that an amputee can’t ride from Boston to New York,” which inspired me to ride a bicycle, one-legged and one-lunged, from Boston to New York City for the AIDS ride. I way exceeded what I thought I could raise and that made me realize people were excited about me doing this and I might be able to capitalize on that and raise quite a bit. Soon I realized that the 192-mile Pan-Mass Challenge bike-a-thon across Massachusetts, which is focused entirely on raising money for cancer research, was the perfect fit and for the past seven years that has been my primary cause. Additionally, since I was doing the Alcatraz swim every year anyway, I decided to also use it as a fund-raiser for Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program, where my wife leads the HIV team. All told, I have raised $100,000 for all these causes and I have no intention of slowing down.

Q: Why did you write the book Who Says I Can’t?

Many people over the years have told me that my story is inspirational to them. Becoming an inspiration was purely an accident. It took me a very long time to recover enough to look outside myself and my struggles and realize that I could motivate others around me. With this book, I hope to shorten the recovery time for someone or simply motivate those who have been knocked down to pick themselves up and “try.”



Who Says I Can’t is about the effect hearing words like “you have little chance of survival” has on someone’s personality. It’s about how one can not only survive, but also fight back, recover and thrive. This is not a “cancer book.” Instead, this book, written with more than a thirty-five-year perspective, is about human perseverance, adaptability and strength.

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to someone about how to be hopeful in the face of adversity, what would it be?

The existence of the word “considering” should motivate us all to shatter the boundaries that the word places on us. The term demeans children, women, ethnic groups, overweight people, disabled, and many more. When someone tempers your accomplishments with the word “considering,” or rejects your aspirations with the phrase “I bet you can’t,” the best defense is to show them that you can and you will. -End-

Thank you Jothy so much for giving me the opportunity to hear your story and share it with others. After hearing how motivated and strong he was, and is, going through what he has gone through, it made me thankful for what I have, and made me look at my life a little differently. A while ago I would have considered myself a quitter at times. When times got tough, I would quit. But I have since then changed my ways, and this is just another story to make me realize that I really CAN do anything I put my mind to.

I hope his story inspired you as much as it did me. Thank you all for reading, and go check out his book!

Don’t forget to enter my Chobani Cho-Case Giveaway! I will be picking a winner on Friday at 5pm EST!!!!!

Question: Were you ever inspired by someone to change your ways?


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Tagged as: Jothy Rosenberg, Who Says I Can't