Hero: Hunter Bork
DOB: 5/8/90
Parents: Ernie & Cindy Bork
Diagnosis: Osteosarcoma (5/5/08)
Hometown: Mt. Vernon, SD
“Your spirit helps a lot. Do what you feel is right. Don’t pity yourself.”-Hunter Bork
Hunter Bork was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (cancer of the bone) just three days shy of his 18th birthday. Hunter, an all-American teenager, played football and ran track, but football essentially led to his diagnosis. During the season, Hunter broke his leg and he continued to experience pain into track season. Thinking it was bone spurs at first, the MRI revealed cancer.
Being the courageous person he is, Hunter chose to have his leg amputated, so as to give him the opportunity to get a prosthetic designed for running. His hope is to have it and master it in time for this year’s track season. He then plans to help organize walks and runs to benefit cancer research and help others battling cancer. He also plans to attend Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell to study Athletic Training, hoping also to run track for the university’s team.
Having missed much of his senior year due to treatment, Hunter hopes to learn to walk with the help of a cane in time for his senior prom. He has been able to keep up with his homework, with his principal and teachers working with him. His school and community have rallied around his family, planning numerous benefits including an Air Band Competition and a Miss Mt. Vernon Competition for males, in which Hunter took 2nd place (his 8th grade teacher won).
When asked what advice he would give to other kids battling cancer or facing a new diagnosis, he said this, “Your spirit helps a lot. Do what you feel is right. Don’t pity yourself.” Hunter is a true inspiration and a living example of being a survivor and a Cure Kids Cancer Hero.
You can contact Hunter directly at hunter@thefishingcrew.com
Essay from Hunter
Cancer is no small thing. When I was first diagnosed I felt that it would be a piece of cake. And in some ways it was, I never really got sick from the drugs. They just made me feel run down and tired all the time. Don’t get me wrong, Cancer may have made me sick, but it did impact my life. Cancer forced me to have my left leg amputated which ended up getting infected requiring 3 more surgeries. lots of pain through this time. I had to have lung surgery to take out nodules that were seen on the CAT scan. They were benign. Both of these were major surgeries that I can overcome and adapt to. But the thing that cancer has taken from me that I will never get back is my senior year of high school.
10 plus months of my life have been spent mostly in the hospital, and I missed so much during that time. Football, Track and just being a student all lost! The next 10-15 years I would like to get through college and have a good paying job to support my family. I should have adapted to walking and running with my prosthetic legs by then. So I hope that I can live my life as normal as possible. Play with my kids in the yard. things like that.
I would like to be a part of as many cancer walks/runs as possible, I want to help in any way I can. Maybe I’ll go to schools and talk about what happened to me and the mistakes I made that have might have saved my leg. Like going to the doctor sooner instead of just fighting through the pain. If I can help one other person the I’ll feel like I have made a difference. Then maybe they can help someone else.
-Hunter Bork
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