WILLIAM TAN
No stranger to challenges, William Tan was paralyzed from the waist down when he contracted polio at age two. His parents, who emigrated from China to Singapore, were unaware of the immunization vaccine that was widely available. Tan never received the vaccine. After having to stay at home so much during Tan's illness, his father lost his job as a clerk and began selling banana fritters out of a wheeled cart. The family was poor and couldn't afford a wheelchair. So, he crawled around on the floor when he was in the family home and was carried piggyback by a family member when they went outside. Despite his early and ongoing challenges, Tan has obtained both MD and PhD degrees with a professional specialization in cancer research and is a resident in preventative medicine and public health in Singapore. He has also worked as a neuroscientist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. William has completed two post-doctoral degrees from Oxford University and Harvard University. He raised funds and awareness about childhood cancer, and the work at Children’s Hospital Boston and Dana Farber’s Jimmy Fund to research and treat the many different forms of cancer. An accomplished and decorated athlete, Tan has competed in the Seoul Paralympics and some 20-plus marathons and ultramarathons. His Antarctic wheelchair will be retrofitted with mountain bike tires and he will use modified crutches to get through some of the more rocky spots on the course. Recently, he set himself the modest goal of participating in 7 marathons on 7 continents, though he wasn’t able to complete the Arctic marathon (he was the first wheelchair athlete to attempt it. William has been overcoming obstacles, especially when people told him he couldn’t do something due to his disability, since he was three years old and paralyzed from the waist down by polio. He sets high standards for himself, in his life as an athlete, as an educator, as a professional healer and researcher, and as a person who believes in making a difference in the lives of others. | 
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