Cancer survivors Hamilton, Hamill back on ice skates for TV special aimed at inspiration

Hamilton, Hamill back on ice for inspiration

LOS ANGELES — Scott Hamilton will skate on TV for the first time since battling a brain tumor, joining fellow Olympian and cancer survivor Dorothy Hamill for a Thanksgiving Day special intended to inspire viewers to triumph over illness.

“Kaleidoscope,” airing 4-5:30 p.m. EST Nov. 26 on Fox, also will feature 1992 Olympic figure skating champion Kristi Yamaguchi and two-time medalist Nancy Kerrigan, along with Olympic hopefuls Johnny Weir and Rachael Flatt.

Hamill, the 1976 gold medalist, will skate to a song performed by Olivia Newton-John. Both women were diagnosed with breast cancer.

The TV program is intended to entertain and motivate, Hamilton said.

“We’re trying to get the word out in a way that won’t make people turn the channel the second they hear the ‘C’ word,” Hamilton said. “It’s about embracing life and moving forward and knowing you can get back to your better self, your best self, even after something as invasive and as challenging as a cancer diagnosis and treatment.”

Winner of the 1984 Olympic gold medal and a four-time world champion, Hamilton was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1997 and with a noncancerous brain tumor in 2004.

For Hamilton, 51, who stopped skating eight months before his tumor diagnosis, “Kaleidoscope” represents more than a one-time comeback. He rediscovered his zest for the sport and its demands after deciding to perform in his annual benefit for the Cleveland Clinic, where he’s been treated. The fundraiser is set for Nov. 7.

“The whole last year, I was putting the time in the gym and time in the rink and working as hard as I can to be as good as I can, and really enjoying the process. It’s the best decision I made since — well, since I got married,” said Hamilton, who lives in Nashville, Tenn.

He’s gotten “extraordinary” health benefits from training, with his doctor telling him his health has greatly improved and to keep at it. Hamilton takes several medications for conditions caused by radiation to shrink his tumor.

Hamilton said he wants to show his two sons, a 6-year-old and a toddler, the importance of meeting a challenge. He’d like that to include a return to skating professionally, he said, which he did for two decades and loved.

“I’m hoping to continue to improve and get my level back up to better than where it was five years ago, when I retired,” he said.

“Kaleidoscope,” sponsored by drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis US, is part of an ongoing health initiative to educate women about cancer and to recognize the role they play in the fight against it, whether as patients, caregivers or advocates.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society are among the advocacy groups that have joined in the initiative.

The show will be taped Nov. 16 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

On the Net:

www.womenandcancer.com