Leukemia is commonly known as cancer of the blood or bone marrow. It’s really a broad term used to explain numerous conditions but more or less most instances are related to abnormalities in blood cell development usually related to white blood cells in general. There are treatments for some forms of the disease but it’s something difficult to handle all the same. Throughout history and even today there are several famous people with Leukemia and in this article we are gonna discuss several of those individuals.
One of the more famous people with Leukemia out there today is Gene Wilder. The comedian has had more than his fair share of experiences with the various forms of cancer. In 1989 he lost his wife Gilda Radner who was also a comedian and brought laughter to people all over the world. He has spent a great deal of time since then trying to help raise awareness even helping put together a book entitled Gilda’s Disease which discussed the struggles of living with cancer. In 1999 Gene Wilder was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma which is one of the various forms of Leukemia that impact the white blood cells.
If you ever spent much time watching the television series 60 Minutes then you were probably aware of the fact that Ed Bradley died in 2006 of Leukemia. Despite having this condition this man was still able to accomplish so much as an American journalist. We are talking about somebody that won 19 Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for his work. For all the reasons above he remains one of the most famous people with Leukemia in recent history.
Here lately some of the more famous people with Leukemia have been involved in sports. Kenechi Udeze is one of those individuals and an inspiration to many people with related conditions. The defensive lineman excelled in college for the Southern California Trojans and was a first round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings. Early in 2008 the young athlete was diagnosed with a form of Leukemia and after a bone marrow transplant from his brother the illness seems to be in remission. He seems determined to play in 2009 and show that everybody and not just famous people with Leukemia can overcome the condition.
When you think about coaching in the NFL then Bill Walsh is one of the legends. This is the man that coached up Joe Montana and Jerry Rice into Hall of Fame players. This man was responsible for the creation of the West Coast offense that so many teams and coaches use today. In 2004 Bill Walsh joined the ranks of famous people with Leukemia and after several discussions on the subject the condition was thought to be in remission in early 2007. That was not the case and on July 30th in 2007 he would die due to the condition.
Source(s) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Wilder#Relationships, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Bradley#Personal_life, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenechi_Udeze#Illness , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Walsh_(football_coach)#Illness
