Their Greatest Victory

The book tells the dramatic stories of 24 remarkable athletes who overcame seemingly insurmountable medical adversities to attain athletic success. A separate chapter is devoted to each, relating how that athlete developed the problem, what medical issues arose, how success was achieved despite the setback, and what personal qualities enabled the athlete to prevail.The book is divided into two parts. Part I includes 15 athletes who dealt with life-threatening diseases, major childhood illnesses or physical disabilities, relating their dramatic comebacks from cancer (Jeff Blatnick, Jon Lester, Babe Didrikson Zaharias), Type I diabetes (Gary Hall, Jr., Ron Santo), other debilitating diseases (Gail Devers, Alice Marble, Alonzo Mourning, Wilma Rudolph), childhood illnesses (Scott Hamilton, Bobby Jones, Doris Hart), and disabilities (Jim Abbott, Dummy Hoy, Harry Greb). Part II includes nine athletes who were involved in nearly fatal or life-changing accidents or endured career-threatening injuries as adults, relating their gripping comebacks. Glenn Cunningham, Three-Finger Brown, Bill Toomey, Mike Burton, Ben Hogan, and Greg LeMond experienced nearly fatal or life-changing accidents, while Lou Brissie, Rocky Bleier, and Tommy John battled back from severe injuries.

David L. Porter is Louis Tuttle Shangle Professor of History at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, USA. He is author and editor of numerous books on American sports history.