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Survive and Advance
BC product Jeff Keith was first cancer survivor, amputee to run cross country
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wenty-nine years ago, after beating cancer as a kid and then becoming the first amputee to play NCAA Division I lacrosse, at Boston College, Jeff Keith could have done nothing else and still inspired millions. Instead, he embarked on an eight- month, 3,300-mile run from Boston to Los Angeles, capturing headlines and hearts all across America.
“Run Jeff Run” raised $1 million for the American Cancer Society. And though Keith would go on to enjoy a successful career on Wall Street as an investment banker, his passion for philanthropy never ceased. He founded three non-profit organizations — The Connecticut Challenge, Swim Across
24 LACROSSE MAGAZINE July 2013>>
America and Swim Across the Sound — that have raised more than $75 million in support of cancer survivors. LM caught up with Keith before the NCAA championships, where he was honored on the field for his life’s work as part of Buick’s “Human Highlight Reel.”
Are you still around lacrosse? I coach youth lacrosse in Fairfield, Conn. We launched a program last year with 450 kids in year one. I coach my son’s seventh-grade travel team, with another son on the third-grade team. I was detached from lacrosse for like 15 years, and then when my kids got into it, I started coaching. It’s like a time warp. It’s bringing back memories of BC when we were playing Carolina. I’m a US Lacrosse member and Level 1 CEP-certified.
Describe your career at Boston College.
I was the backup until senior year, when
I started three or four games. I wasn’t a superstar, but for me to play on a Division I lacrosse team as an amputee in the 1980s was unheard of. My greatest memory is playing my junior year down at North Carolina the year after they won the national championship. Picture the last three minutes. We’re down 14-9 and the coach let me go play. To me, that was the moment, kind of like “Rudy.”
What made you want to run across the country?
I was inspired by Terry Fox, who ran two-thirds of the way across Canada before his cancer came back and it killed him. Terry died on my birthday in June 1981. I wanted to play a Division I sport, do an endurance event and give back to the world. When Terry ran across Canada and wasn’t able to finish, I was in college. That’s when the light switch went on. I wanted to show kids that are in the hospital that cancer is not a death sentence, that you can overcome it.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
©JEFF KEITH
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