Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/388246
OCTOBER 2014 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | 27 He also found comfort in knowing he was in excellent physical shape. "You need every ounce of strength you have to fight during this process," he says. "I'm con- vinced my body could not have handled the intense treatment regimen if I had not been strong from the start." He credits the WAC for playing a major role in maintaining his fitness through the years. Russell has played in the WAC's basketball league and exercised in Men's Fitness since joining the Club in 1999. A lifelong athlete, he insisted on keeping his membership active throughout treatment. "It was important psychologically to picture myself back on the court," he says. On the days when he had energy, he visited the Club to bounce the basketball around and see WAC friends. That network, Russell says, offered him significant moral support. He also got massage therapy and acupuncture at the Club. After Russell had surgery for the double hernia that developed along the way, WAC Physical Therapist Stuart Eivers assisted with his rehabilitation. Russell's wife, WAC member Kimberly Dawson, and their 28-year-old daughter, Ariana, were also crucial to his survival. Russell's treatment concluded in late 2012. Defying immense odds, he beat stage 4 cancer. Soon afterward, he returned to the WAC basketball league. Back on the court, Russell's teammates joked that he played so well they didn't believe he'd ever been sick. "That meant a lot," he says. Russell is now in remission and thrilled about it. This past summer, he turned 60 and attended his daughter's wedding reception at the WAC, just five floors below the WAC basketball gym. In ways large and small, Scott Lundberg, Joy Burgess, and Russell Dawson found support, encouragement and inspiration in their battles against cancer right where they knew they would— from a club and a community that fights together. Melinda Young-Flynn is a Seattle-area freelance writer and editor. Defying immense odds, Russell beat stage 4 cancer. Soon afterward, he returned to the WAC basketball league.