Loss 29/101: Loss of a sister to brain cancer: David Richman

#041. Loss of a sibling can have a huge impact, but when you share as much as David did with his sister, the blow can be literally life-changing.The Silent Why podcast is on a mission to open up conversations around loss and grief, to see if hope can be found in 101 types of loss, or as David described us; “collecting stories of hope”.In this episode we talk to David Richman, an author and motivational speaker from California. Since his sister’s life was ended by cancer, he’s been on a transformational journey from ‘sedentary, overweight smoker in an abusive marriage’, to an endurance athlete boasting such feats as 18 Ironmans …and an 85 mile rollerblade race! Loss #29 of 101 - Loss of a sister to brain cancerDavid had a tough childhood. His mum was 21 years old when he was born (“not equipped to have kids”, David said, “and didn’t want them”) and his dad was aged 59 (“too old to have kids”). Following the death of his sister, June, he became very aware he'd lost the one person who fully understood his challenging upbringing.David began a mission to talk to people about the emotional trauma that goes alongside a life touched by cancer. This resulted in a 41-day bike ride, covering 4,700 miles solo across America, visiting 15 people he featured in a book called Cycle of Lives he had published in 2020. David has so much wisdom and experience to share, stemming from conversations with hundreds of people that have been through cancer, or had someone they love go through it. We chatted about what led him to change his life so drastically, how he coped with the death of his sister, the pain of being on a bike for 41 days, how he copes mentally with endurance sport, why it’s important to talk about the emotional side of cancer and loss journeys, and so much more.For more about David and the Cycle of Lives book and project visit:www.cycleoflives.orgwww.instagram.com/cycleoflives_davidrichmanwww.facebook.com/cycleoflivesCycle of Lives was also recently made into an audiobook with actors reading each of the 15 participant’s stories: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Cycle-of-Lives-Audiobook/B09KHLQQBBSend us Fan MailSupport the show-----thesilentwhy.com  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  LinkedIn What's a Herman? / Buy a Herman - thehermancompany.comSupport the show: buymeacoffee.com/thesilentwhySign-up to my mailing list (only used for sharing news occasionally!): thesilentwhy.com/newsletterHow to talk to the grieving:  thesilentwhy.com/post/howtotalktothegrievingReview the show: Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |  GoodpodsEpisode transcripts: thesilentwhy.buzzsprout.comThank you for listening.