Vitale rings victory bell following cancer battle

SARASOTA — Following his seven-month battle with lymphoma, Dick Vitale signaled victory by ringing the bell in a special ceremony at Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute.

Flanked by his doctors and nurses, the 82-year-old Lakewood Ranch resident and ESPN college basketball analyst reflected on the love of family during his chemotherapy sessions, his oncology team, as well as the hundreds of tweets, messages, and prayers by fans all over the country.

An emotional Vitale said personal inspiration came through the words of his friend and former colleague, Jim Valvano, who died in 1993 of cancer and whose passing led to the formation of the V Foundation for Cancer Research. “Don’t Give Up .... Don’t Ever Give Up,” words said by Valvano at the first ESPY Awards show in 1993, became the Foundation’s motto.

In October 2021, doctors at the Jellison Cancer Institute diagnosed Vitale with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The diagnosis came several months after successful treatment for melanoma. Vitale also received treatment and underwent surgery at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital for precancerous dysplasia on his vocal cords.

“At 82, despite all of the treatments, traveling, and medical challenges, Dick has done phenomenally well,” said Dr. Richard Brown, medical director of the Jellison Institute and the oncologist who managed Vitale’s cancer care. “He is in remission, and we are excited to see him return to the life he loves.”

At the bell-ringing ceremony, Vitale recognized his nurses and members of his medical team by name. “If I were on ESPN now, I would simply say, “They are awesome, baby, with a capital A,” he said.

Members of his oncology team presented him with a river rock they hand-painted with a basketball, March Madness brackets, and an NCAA Final Four theme. Vitale also selected a rock inscribed with the word “Love” to leave behind in the hospital’s Oncology Tower rock garden to inspire cancer patients to follow in his footsteps.

On May 6, Vitale will host the 17th Annual Dick Vitale Gala at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota. The event has sold out and Vitale has set a goal of $7 million, which would bring the amount raised in the Gala’s history to $50 million. The event raises money to fight pediatric cancer through the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

“You’re an inspiration to us all, and the world is a better place with you in it,” said Dr. Stephen Kucera, an oncology specialist at Jellison. “Now, let’s get out and raise some money for these kids.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Vitale rings victory bell following cancer battle