Strong the Destry Abbott Story (2019) - full transcript

Hey, Dad, looks like
a storm's rolling in.

You might wanna go try
and find some cover.

Yeah, I'll go find some.

Sometimes,
life strikes you,

and beyond all the noise...
life happens.

And this happens to be
a story about my life.

You know, when we got
our first trailer house,

it was the coolest thing.
We got to get out on our own.

And right up here...
I haven't been here in years,

but it was a single-wide trailer,
which I heard they took down

because it was so bad.



I'll tell you what, though,

the funny part is,
is these are some of my best memories

because... you know,
we're out on our own,

and it wasn't much, but for us,
it was still home. So...

These are our neighbors.

Actually, our very first house was where this trailer house is here,

and we just had a single-wide
with Kelsey and...

We were young.
When you're 19 and you get to move out...

You know, life wasn't
easy back then

and it's not easy now
but it's just...

continuously fightin'
through it.

It makes you appreciate things even more

versus having something
handed to you.

Cactus Cobras, that's...



that's my old high school.
I ran track all four years.

Motorcycle racing took off
after school,

but everything I did
in high school

was to make me
better on a motorcycle.

So, I was the
weird guy, which...

I loved motorcycles so... Yeah.

But it... it turned out
to be okay.

Can't complain about that one.

You know, he was just
a natural-born rider.

As soon as I started
ridin' with him,

he started just smokin' me
at 15 years old.

And I knew he had
somethin' else

because at every class
he'd win,

and kept goin' up
until he won pro.

You know, he just...
for some reason, he had somethin',

the skills or the reaction time or somethin',

that a lot of people
don't have.

If you're gonna be successful at somethin',
you have to be...

passionate about it.

Motorcycles was somethin' I've always been passionate about.

I don't know, 22, 23 years old

is when I got a factory ride,

or a support ride
from Kawasaki.

They offered me an option
to come on to the team

and it wasn't for much but I knew it was the team to be on.

Well, everybody knows
his toughest competition

at that was Ty Davis.

You know,
'cause Ty Davis and Danny Hamel used to dominate

the Hare and Hound series.

Ty was the best there was
at that time.

Destry and I were
never really buddies.

You know, we were competitors
and we had to beat each other.

I was with Kawasaki
for five years,

and totally happy.

And I get this letter
in the mail

that says, "Your assistance
is no longer needed."

And I was like, "Really?"

Like, I'm...
I'm the dominant guy,

so here I am, national Hare
and Hound champion with nothing.

Nothing at all.

And it was like, "Oh, okay,
I'm starting all over."

You know, what do I do?

So, that's when there was
very bitter, like...

You know, Destry and Brian Brown,
they were coming after me.

Kawasaki was, "You gotta beat Ty.
You gotta beat Ty."

I've learned what they all are really good at,
and what they'll do.

Who's really aggressive,
who's gonna maybe take you out.

You know,
and I had to beat Kawie

'cause I was like,
"I'll show you guys," right?

Passed him once,
he passed me back.

And then, the second loop,
cartwheeled it.

I slammed into him,
I got stuck behind his bike.

But as the year went on,
a few months,

those guys started
coming up to speed quick.

And they really started pushin' and pushin' and it got really tough for me.

So, then, we really started
having battles.

Passed Ty when he made a bobble,
made a wrong move.

You know, the one battle
that comes to my mind

was the one at Laughlin.

And we were goin' at it,
and it was the last lap, and we had a lead.

And I swear, it was like,
three miles from the end,

I just happened to
look behind my shoulder,

and I saw Destry and I was like,
"Are you kidding me?"

I mean,
this is a championship I wanna win.

That's one thing about Destry,
he can uncork his brain.

Like, he can just...
and go berserk.

Oh!

Once everything got settled,
I got back out of the ditch,

and he was picking his bike up

and it was no more than 15 feet,
15 yards, maybe, to the finish line.

I mean, it was the most
gnarliest race, right?

And everybody
who was there saw, you know.

And it was pretty epic.

That was probably the most intense battle I've ever had with him.

Give it up, guys.
Here's your winner, Ty Davis.

On the Yamaha.

Congratulations, Ty.
You made it interesting today, didn't you?

That was real interesting.
I've never had that. That was intense.

Destry caught me
back there and...

He was charging hard
and I wasn't gonna let him...

let him have it. Ha!

We were...
He was being aggressive at the end,

and he
wasn't gonna back off,

and I wasn't gonna back off either and that's what happens.

But then, I remember distinctly

the first race
he ever beat Ty Davis.

And that made him feel,
"Okay, I have it. I can do it.

"I just gotta, you know,
perfect my, you know, trade."

You know, so he really
felt proud about beatin' Ty.

Literally, for probably about
a good ten years there,

I didn't even worry
at the end of the race.

I knew I'd be standing
there at the hill,

waiting for him to come and...

it would be Destry.
And I knew it was going to be Destry.

I didn't worry about it...

His confidence had just...
I mean, multiplied times ten.

Five, four, three,
two, one...

Well, I'll tell you that the most adrenaline rush I've ever had,

when you line up
with 400 riders,

and you go for one deal
five miles out,

it tunnels down into
a quarter mile.

And all those riders are trying
to get to that quarter mile.

It's just hairy.

So, you've been counted

as one of the best off-road riders in the nation right now.

How does that make you feel?
Putting pressure on you or...

No, you know,
I like pressure.

I mean, that's pretty neat.
People just think I'm one of the top off-road racers

in the country because there're so many great riders,

and being listed
as one of the top guys

is, you know,
a great accomplishment for me

and I appreciate that but I just wanna live up to it.

Hopefully, win some more races.

He did good. He manned up
and, you know,

he won a lot of championships.
So, you gotta respect that.

I... I think longevity was something I've enjoyed.

Even today, I'm 46 now,
almost 47 and...

I always felt like
I could be someone better.

I always felt like
I could do better.

I always had guys
I looked up to.

You know, I was confident
and I could win races,

but I always wanted to do better than what I was doing.

So, I was always hungry.

I think the youth, nowadays,
is they're always not wanting to fail.

That's not what it's gonna be.

It's gonna be about,
"What can you learn from failing?"

And that's what it's about,

is failing
and learning from it,

and making yourself better,
and I wasn't afraid to try things

that I knew I wasn't gonna win
or I was gonna fail at,

but I knew
in the big picture,

it was gonna make me a better rider and a better person.

Yoga on the bike.

The thing that I really
looked up to in Destry

when I was growing up
was just his likability.

You know,
everybody liked Destry.

- Good morning.
- Morning.

Sunshine.

He's winning championships,
so obviously,

you wanna be that guy,

but, you know,
everybody liked him.

And just the fact that maybe he saw a little bit in me,

growing up, he was like, "Yeah,
this kid probably has some potential."

So, he would, you know,
invite me to go out and ride with him

every once in a while.

And I took advantage of that.

When one of your idols
asks you to go train with them,

you're like, "Yup, I'll be there.
What time? What're we doin'?"

Like, I wanna do exactly
what that guy's doing.

'Cause I wanna be like him
when I grow up.

Yeah, T.

Oh, my gosh!

Damn!

Yeah, Taylor!

Must be nice to be young.

- Gnarly.
- All right, good job today.

- It was a good effort.
- Hey!

Yeah, I liked the one-hander.
That was nice.

I don't mean
to make it super morbid but...

it's almost like a 9/11 thing.

Like, I remember where I was
when I heard about 9/11.

So, it's the same thing
with Destry.

Like, I remember exactly
where I was when...

my fiancee, Stephanie,
she's like...

"I just saw this post and I don't know exactly what it means."

You know,
and it said something like,

"This is gonna be
a tough road to go down.

"Just found out
I have cancer."

And, you know,
my first thought was like,

"Oh, Destry, you know,
he's a jokester.

"This is... taking it
a little too far, Destry."

You know,
"You're a guy that I train with on a daily basis.

"You're super healthy,
you're active,

"you're a professional athlete.
There's no way this guy has cancer."

Even the week
before I was diagnosed,

I was here training with Cooper and a couple other buddies,

ridin' EnduroCross,
we were getting ready

for the Orofino EnduroCross
in Idaho.

He was having
a lot of health issues.

He'd been going to
the doctor. We...

thought he had
chronic fatigue syndrome,

because he just kept constantly,
just tired and fatigued,

and muscle cramps.

I don't know if I'm over-trained.
Maybe this is...

something I have, you know,
I don't know what it is.

I'm getting a little sick.
So, I was just kinda layin' low.

So many things
that were going on in his body

and they couldn't
quite figure out.

So, we kept
going back, testing.

They thought he had
a parasite in his stomach.

So, there was a lot of thigs that we were trying to figure out

what was going on
with Destry's health.

We flew up to Idaho and...

I really practiced
and when I came off,

you know,
I was in pro-practice with Cooper,

and I came off the track
and I did, like, two laps.

And I gave him the bike and I go, "Buddy,
can you hold the bike?"

I, literally,
got off the bike and...

you know, I don't quit races,
I don't quit anything...

So, we went to
that race and...

during practice, he literally
just was in so much pain.

I was in pain. When I say,
"I was in pain,"

I felt like I broke my femur,
and I've never broke it before, but it was that.

I'm like, "I didn't crash, I haven't done anything.
I'm just in this much pain."

He called me with a bunch...
a whole list of symptoms, actually.

And he's like,
"I'm feeling this, I have pain,

"I have leg cramps,
I have this..."

And so,
I'm looking it up and I'm typing it into the computer,

and, of course,
the first thing with all the symptoms

that pops up is cancer.

So, and I'm like, "No.
There's no way. It's not cancer.

"We've been to the doctor."

I'm like, "It can't be that."

Sunday morning, we like...
we were able to move our flight up

'cause he's like,
"I need... I need to get back.

"Like, I need to get back now."

I told my wife...
She was here in Phoenix.

I go, "Babe,
I'm heading to the hospital because I'm hurtin'."

I'm literally hurtin'.
And, you know, it's...

it was a day later, you know,
they told us what it was and...

Cancer, unfortunately,
sometimes hits the young people.

So, when the cancer is diagnosed in a young family,

there'll be
immediately turmoil.

Emotional turmoil.

Physically, the patient
is not feeling good,

and socially,
all the friends are concerned.

Especially the immediate
family members.

And especially the children.

I got a phone call
from my mom saying,

"Hey, Daddy's in the hospital.
You should come home."

And I'm like,
"What do you mean, he's sick?"

She's like,
"He may have leukemia."

And I just freakin' slid down the wall,
broke down.

So, psychologically challenged,
emotionally disturbed,

and socially, even financially
challenged as well.

He was diagnosed with a very aggressive disease called "ALL,"

in short for
acute lymphocytic leukemia.

They said, "Hey,
you don't have maybe a week to live."

That's a scary thing
to hear because...

somethin' that, you know,
you've dealt with injuries but when you...

are told you don't have
much time left,

unless you start chemo
and stuff...

And when I say "start chemo,"
they... they hit you hard.

And it was...
it was an intense...

thing, mentally, physically,
and everything there.

I just was
still in complete denial.

Because, in my mind, I'm like,
"We've been going to the doctor,

"the doctor's been
doing the blood tests,

"he would've caught this."
That was my thought.

I mean, as low
as his platelets were,

as low, as off as
his white blood count was,

it should've been caught.
Absolutely.

It was there.
It was in the blood work.

It was just missed.

You know,
I didn't have a choice.

When they told me Monday...

Tuesday, like, "We gotta
start you on chemo.

"You're not gonna make it
till the end of the week

"if you don't start chemo."

But, literally,
the morning he started chemo,

we had people message us

and message him that, "Don't do chemo.
You're going to kill yourself.

"You're putting poison in
your body. You're doing this.

"Don't do this.
Go the natural route."

But what people
don't realize is...

the cancer was in 90 %
of his body.

He, literally, was about
three or four days from dying.

The emotional side,
and, you know...

crying more than
I've ever cried in my life.

Like, it wasn't about me,
it was more about my family.

You know, my kids,
you know, that's...

that's stuff that really...
as a parent,

you know,
that's stuff that...

you wanna be there for your kids.
You wanna be there for your family,

and stuff like that and...

that was really
a tough time for me.

Destry kinda went,
I think, into survival mode.

My world was definitely spinning out of control.

And not having
any say, or any control,

like, it was, literally...

I'm just laying there and I'm praying and I'm just hoping for the best.

Kind of
the first time in years,

that lost little boy.

So, that was
a really hard time for him.

I'm typing in
"leukemia." "ALL."

Like, positive, what...
Motivational and...

there isn't much
out there, and...

I reached out to a lot of people.
I'm emailing people.

I wanna hear good things.

Well, I feel like
when I first talked to Destry,

we were instant friends.

We were instant friends.

I mean, we had this in common.

He was looking for advice,
he was looking for support,

he was looking to hear from somebody
who had come out on the other side.

He's one of those guys who likes to dissect everything.

And it was scary.

Everything you saw
on the Internet was negative.

There was no positives.

To see Kim go through
the stuff that we went through,

and taking her down
to basically zero,

it was equally numbing
for both of us.

And, I mean, of course, you know,
when you hear the "cancer" word,

we're all made to think that when you hear "cancer" it means death.

Just have to take it
one day at a time.

You know, when this
first happened to me,

I had my chemo treatments
spaced out exactly,

and I knew by this date
they'd be done,

and by this time,
I'd have hair back,

and by this time,
I'd be back to doing my things,

and it doesn't happen
like that.

Nothing happens...
You cannot plan.

You know? God laughs.

When we had been at the hospital here in Arizona for two months,

literally, it got to the point where he...
he told me he wasn't going to make it.

So, we really started to question whether
or not we were at the right place,

you know, for him
to be able to, you know,

make it though the treatment.

Because the treatment
was eight months,

and we were only two months in and he had already lost 35 pounds.

And was already at the point where, mentally,
he was just done.

So, then, we actually
had a friend, Steve Fox,

who was
a cancer survivor himself

and he's on the board
at MD Anderson in Houston.

And he actually put me in contact with one of their doctors.

And this doctor,
who is one of the top doctors in his field,

literally called my cell phone

and spent two hours
talking to me.

When Destry was referred to me by our board member,

Steve Fox, Mr. Fox,

I said, "ALL, although
it is very aggressive,

"is a highly treatable disease."

Destry could survive
for many years.

And there's no better place
to be treated.

At MD Anderson,
we have a very strong leukemia department.

And that's where ALL patients
are treated.

And that's where
we referred Destry to,

the leukemia department.

By the time
I got off the phone,

I knew that was where
we needed to be.

In Houston,
everyone is chemo-certified,

and everyone works together.

It's a, you know,
well-oiled machine.

Results were there instantly.

The doctors were all
working as a team.

Destry's stress and his...
everything kinda just dissolved.

When I see a patient
who has cancer,

of course they come
to see me,

they are aware, more or less,
they have cancer.

So, the bad news
is they have cancer.

The good news is, I will tell them,
"We have all the tools.

"We have the knowledge,
the science and the tools to help you

"overcoming your cancer and offer a decent chance of cure.

"And we'll fight as a team with one goal...
it's to win this battle."

Well, you know,
Destry Abbott is a champion.

Destry was told,
like any other patients,

that, "Your chances
are really bad.

"You have a very bad disease,"

and he did not
see the future.

I mean, "What can we do?"

So, he came here and I went over the diagnosis report,

and we told him,
"We have a decent chance of succeeding."

The first three days
that we were checked in there

was like,
"Okay. You know what?

"I can do this.
I'm gonna make it."

And it was... it was actually that instant.
It was pretty amazing.

So, at, like,
the six-week-ish mark,

he was...
he was doing well.

And MD Anderson said tests were looking good,
chemo was working.

And then,
we were all home, and...

It's funny, 'cause
I heard my parents whispering

about something,
like, test results,

and I'm like, "Oh,
must be my dad's test results."

And then,
I think we were sitting on the couch,

and my mom got a call,
she went to the room,

and then she came out
holding her mouth, whatever,

and she's like,
"I have breast cancer."

And it was like, "Holy..."
Am I allowed to cuss? "Fuck!"

Like, are you kidding?

I mean, when I say
I broke down with myself,

I broke down even more,
'cause...

you know, now,
I'm a patient and a caregiver,

where she was a caregiver and I didn't realize how hard it was

to have somebody
you love so much...

You know... You guys are both
gonna have to...

deal with this
and go through this.

The toughest times
of our life, for sure.

I mean,
I don't know if it's harder to be the person with...

the actual diagnosis,

or be the one
standing on the sidelines.

I felt so helpless, you know,
being on the sidelines

and not being able to, like,

you know,
I'm a guy, I wanna fix it.

And being the man
of the house,

I feel like you always feel like you wanna be the rock.

You wanna be the provider,
you wanna be the caretaker, you wanna be that.

So, he got both perspectives.

You know,
that's when this stuff comes into your head.

Like, you know,
life isn't fair.

My support system is gone. And now,
I'm trying to support her, which is...

I was at a really low point,

you know, physically
and mentally.

And now,
I gotta try to help her and be positive for her.

It was a tough thing
for both of us.

Now...

me, his caregiver,
now I was going to go through treatment.

I think we were more emotional for my dad,

and then, once my mom,
I mean...

we definitely,
were all like...

"This is... this is stupid,
like...

"Can't believe
this is happening" and...

Two healthy people,
like, 40-something years old,

one has leukemia,
two, three months later,

my mom's diagnosed
with breast cancer.

They were "not get out of bed,
look like death" sick.

It was hard seeing both of them in depressed state.

Like, we could
come away with no parents.

I mean, you have to live each day,
each month, each hour like,

you know, like, "Hey,
we don't know how many of those are left."

So...

Our life was put on hold,
if that makes sense.

So, we, literally,
both were on chemo for a good... over two years.

I have anxiety, I have depression,
I have triggers now

that bring me back to
how tough times were.

My two years of, literally,
dealing with cancer is...

a lot of it's a blur.

Like, Charlotte will bring thigs up,
"Remember that?"

I'm like, "Wow, I actually
forgot all about that."

Because my mind kinda
blurs a lot of that out.

We're very close.
A daddy-daughter relationship.

And when he was in his,
like, depressed state,

it's, like,
"Are we ever gonna go back to the relationship we had,

"or are you gonna become
the person I know?"

It just... he has PTSD
all the time now.

Every time he's sick,
it's like, "Oh, my cancer's back."

I can't imagine living
with that but...

I just hope he's on the upward.

It's interesting to see
where he is now,

which I'm really proud
of how much he's worked

to where he used to be.

I feel like your mind
is a powerful thing.

And if you believe
in something, believe it.

And you can conquer things
that are maybe...

some people say "impossible" but I don't
believe impossible is a word that I use,

and people should use.

The motivation to race and to ride motorcycles is...

in direct correlation
with his motivation

to beat his disease,
wouldn't you say?

I think it is, mainly
because of Cooper.

'Cause Cooper is
his motivation now,

'cause he loves going out
and beating him.

You know, so...

it helps him.

Destry is definitely
still faster.

Cooper will literally think that he's going to go out to a race

and he's like, "I've got this.
I'm gonna beat my dad."

I mean, really,
we go back and forth.

I think it just depends on
who has their good days,

and especially after everything that he's went through,

he doesn't have
as many good days, which...

sucks but it works out in my favor if we're goin' faster.

When I'm on my motorcycle,
that's a time that...

I don't think about
anything else.

I'm back to being
a 20-year-old kid,

just shredding wet dirt,
wheeling out of corners.

Something that I love
more than anything now.

♪ I'll follow you

♪ You follow me
I'll follow you

♪ Do you ever see
What I have to do

♪ Follow me
I'll follow you

♪ Lightning temporary
Out of limit

♪ I'll follow you

♪ You follow me
I'll follow you

♪ Do you ever see
What I have to do

♪ Follow me
I'll follow you

♪ I follow you there

♪ I follow
I follow you

♪ Deep sea, baby
I follow you

♪ I follow
I follow you

♪ Dark doom, honey
I follow you

♪ I follow
I follow you

♪ Deep sea, baby
I follow you

♪ I follow
I follow you

♪ I follow you

♪ Droppin' it I'm coppin' it That new Tesla no troublin'

♪ Champagne poppin'
Spaceship lockin'

♪ Presence shockin'
My fashion be all relevant

♪ My bae about that groove

♪ Grind hard day and night To live king I pay the price

♪ Dead end, never follow
the baggage I got in cargo

♪ Cruise, man, we be mellow
Damn, I'm feeling this cargo

♪ I said let's leave
this planet

♪ She said I follow you

♪ You follow me
I'll follow you

♪ Do you ever see
What I have to do

♪ You follow me
I'll follow you

♪ It's likely temporary
I'mma live it until

♪ I follow you there

♪ I follow
I follow you

♪ Deep sea, baby
I follow you

♪ I follow
I follow you

♪ Dark doom, honey
I follow you

♪ I follow
I follow you

♪ Deep sea, baby
I follow you

♪ I follow
I follow you

♪ Dark doom, dark doom
Dark, dark, dark doom

♪ I'll follow you ♪

I'm 46 now, almost 47,
and I still love racing.

I still love goin' out and racing the kids in the pro class.

And even when I line up on the starting line,
or whatever,

I don't sit there and think to myself as, "Oh,
my gosh. I'm 46 years old."

I'm racing these 20-year-olds
or my son, who's 21, you know.

It's like,
my mind still tells me I can still win this.

I can still do this.

When you think about racing,
it's you against the track.

It's you against
your competitors.

I mean, it's you
against everything.

It's you against
the world, basically.

And you have this determination that's just...

in your mind
and in your body, that just...

and, especially,
if you're a champion,

you are gonna figure out how to get to the finish line first.

Anybody that
talks to him off the bike

knows that Destry
is a nice guy.

They're like, "Oh, he's one of
the nicest guys around."

Yeah, but have you ever been
taken out by Destry?

We're not afraid
to trade some paint

and show the other one
who's boss, so...

To be where you're at and have five
AMA Hare and Hound championships,

I mean,
you have to be competitive.

You can't... you can't be
that nice guy all the time,

or else, you know, what do they say?
Nice guys finish last.

Whoo!

It used to be my mind still thinks I'm young but...

my body's like, "No,
we don't do that anymore."

Especially when you're picking yourself up off the ground.

But it's like, I... I enjoy it.

I'm a competitive person,
and I'll always be that way.

I enjoy riding
two wheels, still.

I never thought in my life
that Des could get up to the...

the step he's at
right now, again.

'Cause he went out and raced a race two weekends here.

We're hanging
with the fastest guys...

there was.

And beating Cooper.

And I didn't think
he could beat Cooper.

You know, but he did.

He beaten him and he finished in seventh and eight overall

with the fast guys.

Taylor Roberts...
all those fast guys.

He just has the drive.

Yeah, everybody always asks
like, "Oh, you're cured."

Like... leukemia,
you can't be cured.

Like, it's in remission.

It will always be
in remission and...

I mean, you never really
want to think that.

It's scary to think
that it could come back, and...

he could have to go
through that all again.

How you feelin'
this morning?

All right.

Yeah?

How's the stomach?

Mmm... it's all right.

It is what it is nowadays.

It's like, just lately,
it's been a little worse but...

it's all good.

Just the body's
just weak and...

been achin'.

Looking forward to this week to check everything out?

Yeah, then it's just...
I'll get blood results back right away,

but then it's like a week for the big bone marrow one, biopsy.

That one's... That's the one
that makes you nervous.

It sucks, it hurts but...

it's the results that...

are more concerning always.

It's just at
the back of your mind.

Part of life.

He doesn't like to show
that he's struggling, or...

I mean, he doesn't
feel weak because of it,

but he just doesn't
wanna feel sympathy.

And that's one big thing
he doesn't like.

Playin' on the beach today.
This is good stuff.

Wish I was out there,
of course.

Gotta listen to my body.

My mind says one thing,
my body says another.

That's... Oh, dude, I had
a blast yesterday.

I mean, dude, look at this.

Just need to be...
I'm like...

freaking 20 years older
than most of these pros.

I think the closest guy my age
is, like, 18 years younger.

So, I turned pro before...

all these pros now
were even born.

But it's pretty awesome.

Especially when you
get to beat 'em.

Yeah, buddy!

Right here, stay there.

Right here, right here.

Oh, actually, that wasn't bad.

- Ripped right over there?
- Yeah.

Oh, doggie!

Yeah, Taylor!

Good job, buddy.

Good lines, dude.

Freakin' so smooth and fast.

Let's get this, G.
Come on!

Stay on it, Coop.
That looks good.

Nice. Come on, buddy!

Sit up. Sit up
a little bit. Sit up.

Nice. Good job
cutting under, though.

That was good.

Coop's doing good.
He's running second in pro, too.

It's like... Guys are fast, man.

This is some of the top
riders in the world.

So, it's pretty sick
comin' here and watchin' them.

Especially the guys I help.
I love seeing that and...

seeing them progress
and...

Hopefully, reach their goals
that they got to do.

Or get to do, I should say.

So, we got 19,
six, seven.

- We got a big group today.
- Here we go.

I know!
I was like, "Holy crap!"

- Steven.
- Steven.

- I'll try to remember.
- Will.

Oh, I know Will, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.

How are you, buddy?
It's good to see you.

- Nick.
- Nick? Okay.

When you guys have names on there,
it makes it so much easier.

Barton.

If you guys have questions,
ask me. I love questions.

I wanna help you guys out
as much as I can.

So, whatever you guys need,

like, mental side,
I'm big on the mental side,

and we'll talk a little bit
about that in a few minutes.

The looser
you are on the bike,

the more efficient you are.

The slower you go,
the more difficult it is.

It's like riding across
whoop sand.

Momentum is your friend
and I'm big about momentum.

Nice! There you go.
Keep that momentum!

There you go.

Yeah, ride across.
There you go, there you go.

Nice!

Oh, he's a great coach.

This is the second clinic I've done with him.
He's awesome.

They say, "Oh, I'm old.
I can't ride that fast anymore."

Well, Destry is older than me.
And he's still super-fast. So...

It's... it's an inspiration,
you know.

When we're going across there,
I'm openin' my chest,

meaning I'm opening
my arms.

Now, my weight is back.

You guys know your limitations
better than I do.

Don't feel like we're pressuring you to do anything.

But at the same time,
It's rewarding.

I know pretty much everybody here
can do the things that we're gonna do.

It's tough.
You did a good job.

You're almost comin' in
too slow, to be honest with you.

Yeah!

Nice!

There you go!
Nice... Oh!

Hey, nice job! Good job.
I'm lovin' that. That was good.

Yeah, I think it's huge. I mean,
he's been in the industry forever.

And some of the stuff,
that you learned when you were younger,

when you first started riding
but you kinda forget about it.

So, it's nice to get
reminded of those...

little things
that you forget to do

that really make
a big difference.

All right, try to weight those pegs.
Both feet are off.

See how loose he is on the bike?
He's doing a good job.

Whoa!

Hey, that was actually nice.

That was a nice landing.

This is sick.

- Thank you.
- Yeah, thank you.

Thank you, guys.

You got people crashing.

People doing things that they didn't ever
think they were gonna be able to do.

And that's cool for me.

That's cool for them.

Nice!

And that's... that's life.
Seeing them progress,

and seeing them
doing things that

they didn't ever think
they were gonna be able to do.

You know, we're all cheering
them on as a group.

It's awesome, you know.

It's part of the sport
that makes this fun is...

seeing people do things that they didn't think they can do.

I feel like even where I am today is...
is an amazing thing.

You know,
I stopped chemo maintenance four months ago,

and, you know,
I was down in Chile racing in the ISDE

with my son for team USA.

There's clients that I work with at my riding schools

and later they find out,
"You had cancer?"

I'm like, "Yeah, I don't know.
I don't share that."

But I do wanna have people
realize that there is future.

It doesn't necessarily need to be a motorcycle or whatever,

but my doctor, Dr. Jabbour,
back at MD Anderson,

I love and I will never be
able to thank him enough

for everything he's done
for leukemia.

ALL is...

He wrote my protocol.

Beside the disease,
he's a very special person.

You know,
from his young days,

he's a fighter.

He's an inspiring person.

He inspired me and the team to go out of our way to help him.

He deserved it, of course.

But he has an inspiring,
positive attitude that you cannot dismiss.

And it can only push you to go beyond your level of comfort

to deliver the best you can
and this is... him.

Now they're seeing
if I'm pregnant.

Pretty normal.
It's a boy.

It's a boy!

That's pretty awesome.

You happy, huh?

I have one of each, so,
I guess I could use another boy.

Girls cost more money.

Well, of course,
leukemia is a difficult disease to treat.

It's like, every cancer
can be fatal.

And when you got somebody who have cancer,
it is a very bad news.

The good thing is, today
we're making enormous progress

in the matter of leukemia.

Transforming a disease from being fatal to sometimes curing patients.

Everything is fantastic.

- Thank you.
- All right.

I told my kids,
"My American dream is not the big mansion or house.

"My American dream
is to cure lymphoma."

I have kind of three things.

Blood pressure has kinda
always been...

I check mine quite a bit,
almost every day and...

it's kinda high a lot now.

And I do this... Centapril,
I think it is, which is a low...

Yeah, a low dose,
to kinda help,

but sometimes, it is...
up and down.

- Anxiety related or...
- Could be, honestly.

Is it only
when you're here or...

It definitely is
here more. Yeah.

But there's times where I'm like 140,
150 over 90 at home,

and I know that's higher.

But I don't know where that range is where I'm like,
"All right."

There's always something, you know.
"Here, we're gonna give you this,

"but we might have to
deal with this, you know."

But cancer... As long as that's not here,
that's priority one.

Deep breath.

Deep breath.

Open your mouth, please.

- Say, "Ahh."
- Ahh.

Okay. Follow my...

Lie down, please.

Okay. Sit up.

Have a seat. Let's talk.

"Let's talk?"
That doesn't sound good.

When my wife says that,

"We need to talk."
I'm like, "Oh, boy."

It's scary.

He's getting
a bone marrow today.

Okay. So, your count
is 5.7, you're normal.

Your count blood
is fully normal.

Your kidneys are perfectly
fine, no concern.

Your liver is perfect as well.

And then,
the rest is fully normal.

One thing of importance
is to watch your PCR.

Correct? Your PCR has been
undetectable.

Good.

So, you are in CMR,

and you're getting what we call the "maintenance" therapy.

- Mmm-hmm.
- You still have to go for

- 13 cycles...
- Yeah.

Then we'll be done.

- Sweet.
- And then put that in the pills.

Yeah. Awesome.

What's happened
with your arm?

Oh, I went down
on a motorcycle.

Those dang things are dangerous.

When they ask me if I've had a fall,
I'm like...

I don't know,
what you consider a fall?

Like, I fall on my motorcycle.

- Thank you, sir.
- Anything else I can do for you?

- No, I appreciate everything.
- You're doing great.

- Thank you, I appreciate it.
- You know that, okay?

- I try.
- I told them this morning

that you are a champion.
Not only in motorcycling but with leukemia.

- Thank you.
- And we're very proud of you.

I appreciate that.
Thank you.

Pleasure. Anything else?

Good. Thank you.

You're awesome. Thanks, Doc.
- Take care.

We're going now.
We're good.

Today went good.

Keep seeing the results.

- All right. Fly safe.
- See you guys.

God willing,
he can have a normal life.

So, we've treated,
with the same regimen that Destry is receiving,

more than 100 patients.

Our five years survival for all-comers is around 75 %.

And for patients who achieve...

achieve what you call complete molecular remission,
no disease,

the outcome is even better
and brighter,

where survival is around
80-90 %, which is...

amazing, knowing
where we started,

10 % survival,
and where we are today.

When...

we got to Houston,
Destry and I would talk about a lot of things.

That's one thing,
when you're sitting there,

you know, for seven days
in a row in a hospital bed,

it gives you a lot of time
to think about things.

And two people like us,
who have been... both of us,

completely healthy
our whole lives.

And then, all of a sudden,
out of the blue,

both of us diagnosed within two to three months of each other.

I felt like those challenges
were put there for a reason,

and I kinda feel like
that reason was DA8 Strong.

I don't know how,
honestly, people do it

without having
a support system.

You know, the things
we went through,

and having so many amazing
friends and family

is something that I'll never...

I'll never to be able
to thank them enough for that.

If we get through this,
we honestly

wanna put our heart
and our soul

back into helping people out,

and that's when we started
the DA8 Strong foundation.

Emotionally and mentally,
you need people behind you and supporting you.

I can't even imagine
not having the support system,

because it just made
such a huge difference...

that... I don't know.
I don't know what we would've done.

Honestly.

I mean, it was everything.

We just love
giving back 'cause we know

how much this meant to us
when somebody did that for us.

These bags are being
delivered tomorrow,

to the Arizona Center
for Cancer Care,

to be delivered to their
chemo unit for their patients.

My first day of chemo, actually,
I walked in, and I was super nervous,

and I ended up getting a goodie bag from a previous cancer patient.

It had a book and a bottle of water,
just a notepad...

Things that I wouldn't even
think about having,

and it was amazing.

And a little note,
so I just didn't feel so alone.

Now that we've established it,
now I'm ready to...

reach out and help
as many people as I can.

So, I really think that that's kind of where our future is going.

Hey! Come on in.

What's up, buddy?
How are you, dude?

You look good.

What's up, bud?
How're you?

And this is my daughter Kelsey.

- Hi.
- Hi.

- Nice to meet you.
- Yeah.

DA8 Strong got you
kind of a little gift

for everything
you've been doing

and how awesome you're doing.

Yeah.

Does your chest
sometimes hurt?

- Yeah.
- Oh, mine does too, still.

- Like here.
- Oh, my gosh,

I deal with the same thing.
I still deal with that. Oh...

Here's this,
but this is the one I think you're gonna like.

- My fancy packing.
- Yeah.

So, since you know
all about Enzo and...

yeah, the kid's
a pretty bad dude.

He's like my idol.

Mom and Dad said you've been savin' up, so, we...

DA8 Strong wanted
to help out and...

- Oh, thank you.
- You're welcome, bud.

- It's as big as you.
- I know!

Now, he's gonna be excited
to get home from school.

He's gonna be like,
"I wanna get home from school now."

I can tell you,
mentally is still the struggle I deal with the most.

Like, you know, just...

Seeing stories
or hearing people

that are going through
the same thing.

But you're doing great, dude.
You're staying strong,

and the mental side
is such...

an important part,
and I think something that's overlooked, you know?

Just staying positive.
It's hard, trust me, I...

Charlotte still has struggles,
I still have struggles.

We talked to a lot of people,
I reach out to a lot of people

when I'm having a tough time,

besides just Charlotte, and it...
it helps me out still, so...

Having a good team.
That's why I always tell you...

You'll text me, call me
and I'm like...

"Oh, Enzo messaged me." I'm like,
it's cool. I love when you do that.

So, Enzo, thanks, buddy.

- Thank you.
- You're doing good, dude.

Bye, guys.

See ya. You're welcome.
Thank you, guys.

The one thing
that was amazing for us

is the amount of friends
and family,

and the industry that literally stepped up and helped us.

It kind of became our dream and our driving force,

and helped Destry and myself get through the treatment

because our ultimate goal was

we wanted to turn around
and give back

and help other people who didn't have the resources that we had.

Cancer has definitely
changed my life.

You know, all of our lives.

It doesn't even...
What people don't realize is it's not necessarily...

me, or the patient itself.

It's the caregivers,
your family, your close friends,

and loved ones
that are around you.

It affects them just as much emotionally, physically, even.

So, life has changed
a lot in that aspect.

But, you know, it's hard
to complain because...

I still get to enjoy
my family,

and, you know, do things
I enjoy doing and love doing.

♪ Running and gunning I've been

♪ Working for something
I need something

♪ Could call my own

♪ What's wrong
with a short ride

♪ Living life on the wild side

♪ Ain't no wrong or right
when the growin' get old

♪ Nothing good ever comes easy

♪ But don't you
know that now fleecy

♪ Gotta keep your nose
at that old grindstone

♪ You find yourself
in the crossfire

♪ Do your best
to walk a fine line

♪ Ain't no wrong or right way
to get back home

♪ Don't fret
No need to cry

♪ Look at life
on the bright side

♪ Every day is a good day
to be alive

♪ Running and gunning I've been

♪ Looking for
something I need

♪ Something I can call my own

♪ What's wrong
with a short ride

♪ Living life on the wild side

♪ Ain't no wrong or right way
to go and get home

♪ No, no

♪ Nothing good ever comes easy

♪ But don't you
know that now fleecy

♪ Gotta keep your nose
at that old grindstone

♪ You find yourself
in the crossfire

♪ But do your best
to walk a fine line

♪ Some things in life
are better off left alone

♪ No, no, no, no

♪ Don't fret
No need to cry

♪ Look at life
on the bright side

♪ Every day is a damn
good day to be alive ♪