Cooper Chun, then 16, of Vancouver prepares for competitors at Portland Worldwide Raceway on Aug. 12, 2020. Chun drives each the 1999 Mullis Rear Engine Dragster, foreground, on the 1979 Chevrolet El Camino, background proper. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian information)
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For Vancouver drag racer Cooper Chun, racing has all the time been an integral a part of his life. It’s that lifelong ardour that fueled his willpower to beat a most cancers analysis as a teen.
The third-generation drag racer was born into pace, following within the tracks of his father and grandfather. By 18, he was a adorned champion, competing in native and regional meets on Nationwide Scorching Rod Affiliation-sponsored tracks, together with the Portland Worldwide Raceway. In October 2022, he earned a spot within the Summit Racing Championship in Las Vegas.
However earlier than he acquired an opportunity to compete, a analysis of Ewing sarcoma — a uncommon most cancers affecting adolescents — put the brakes on his desires.
“At first, it was really tough, because we worked so hard to get there,” Chun stated. “It was hard to get past that. But at the end of the day, I had to beat it in order to be able to race again.”
Now 20, Chun is in remission and again on the monitor. He secured a significant win on the five-day Mickey Thompson Million Greenback Drag Race in St. Louis in September. His ardour for racing, household and staff of oncology specialists at Kaiser Permanente, are all part of what helped him persevere by the analysis and therapy, he stated.
“We’ve always done it as a family,” Chun stated. “It’s all that we’ve ever had.”
Switching gears
Chun’s rear-engine dragster sat with out its engine at his father’s automotive store, DC Auto Options, on a chilly Tuesday afternoon.
In the course of the winter low season — between November and March — the automotive’s engine receives a tuneup, whereas the Chun household works on different routine upkeep.
The household usually jokes that Cooper Chun was born into racing, contemplating his mom, Traci Chun, went into labor with him at a racetrack.
“My water broke at a racetrack in Woodburn (Ore.),” Traci Chun stated. “We have pictures of him at like 3 weeks old at the Sacramento (Calif.) Raceway. This is all the life he has ever known, really.”
Cooper Chun started racing when he was 8 years previous, working in tandem along with his father, David Chun, who can be his coach. Traci Chun additionally races every so often, together with Cooper Chun’s aunt and cousins.
“My earliest memories would just be going up the racetrack with kids my age and wanting to race,” Cooper Chun stated. “Every Wednesday for the last 20 years, we’ve been going.”
When Cooper Chun was 16, he received junior dragster driver of the yr for the Nationwide Scorching Rod Affiliation’s Division 6, a area that encompasses a big portion of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.
Simply two years later, at 18, he started experiencing extreme ache in his hip. At first, he thought it was rising pains or a torn muscle. But it surely had gotten too painful to stroll. A visit to the emergency division and an MRI found a mass on his pelvis.
A biopsy then confirmed he had a uncommon type of most cancers known as Ewing sarcoma that may have an effect on the bones or close by mushy tissue.
In america, solely about 200 instances of Ewing sarcoma are reported amongst adolescents youthful than 20, in keeping with the American Most cancers Society. The precise reason for Ewing sarcoma is unknown, however it may be associated to a genetic mutation that causes cells to develop abnormally, in keeping with the Mayo Clinic.
Cooper Chun, then 16, of Vancouver pauses for a photograph in his 1999 Mullis Rear Engine Dragster at Portland Worldwide Raceway on Aug. 12, 2020. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian information)
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In Cooper Chun’s case, the first concern was that the tumor was sitting proper on the hip, his Kaiser Permanente oncologist Dr. Daniel Da Graca stated.
If docs had been to proceed with surgical procedure, they doubtlessly would have needed to take away his left leg, together with the hip and joint. This may have been extraordinarily powerful for a younger affected person, particularly contemplating each legs are an integral facet of racing, Da Graca stated.
“We first start with a nurse navigator whenever there is a new cancer diagnosis. We also have a team of surgical, medical and radiation oncologists who all specialize in treating sarcoma,” Da Graca stated. “That multidisciplinary approach is so helpful.”
Typically, therapy for Ewing sarcoma consists of surgical procedure and chemotherapy, typically paired with radiation, Da Graca stated.
Cooper Chun’s early intervention was vital. If the tumor had been to metastasize, radiation and chemotherapy would have doubtlessly been too poisonous as a result of it’s focusing on such a big physique half, Da Graca stated.
“Many times, when patients are so young they feel they’re indestructible. This kind of diagnosis can certainly catch anyone off guard,” Da Graca stated. “If any young adults have any concerning bone or joint pain that can not be explained by any recent injury or surgery, they should really try to see the doctor as soon as possible.”
Again on monitor
Cooper Chun stated it was powerful receiving a most cancers analysis as a teen and through such a profitable time of his racing profession.
“The main thing was to get better so I could get back to the race track,” he stated.
Cooper Chun’s staff at Kaiser Permanente included oncology, infusion and radiation specialists. Oncology nurse case supervisor Alison Eshleman stayed in shut communication with Cooper Chun and his mom.
“You never felt alone, you just felt like you had this whole team of people working and fighting for you,” Traci Chun stated.
After a number of rounds of therapy that started in October 2022, Cooper Chun’s tumor started to shrink. He formally went into remission by Might 2023.
By September of that yr, he returned to the monitor the place he competed in a sequence of races throughout Montana, Missouri and North Carolina.
“All my strength had gone, so at first it was like, do I even have enough strength to even hold the pedal down?” Cooper Chun stated. “There were so many unknowns going down the first pass, but I kind of got back in it and got a feel for it, and it was like I’d never left.”
The drag racing group in Vancouver and Portland gave him power.
“It’s a really unified family group of people,” Traci Chun stated. “That was highlighted the most when Cooper was diagnosed with cancer. The community just rallied. It just was overwhelming. That’s just the way the community is.”
In the present day, Cooper Chun is in his second yr at Clark School the place he’s learning accounting. He plans to switch to Washington State College in Pullman within the fall. He’s gearing up for his first race of the season, which can be on the finish of March in Las Vegas.
Routine scans and check-ins along with his staff at Kaiser Permanente assist him hold tabs on his tumor.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done without racing,” Cooper Chun stated. “But the biggest thing is to focus on your passion and do whatever you need to do to get through it.”