Ed Lindsey is known in the area for his dedication to softball. He is Commissioner of Metro-Buffalo Chapter of Amateur Softball Association. He is also dedicated to fighting multiple myeloma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.

One morning as he was getting ready for work, he collapsed. At a local hospital doctors found the vertebrae in his back and neck had buckled due to his cancer and surgery was scheduled immediately. A steel plate and rod were inserted to repair the damage from the cancer but Ed was told he would not walk again. Three more back surgeries and chemotherapy followed in what became a grueling schedule of treatment and recovery.

"At the time, no one gave me a chance of survival but I surprised them all. I am still here," Ed says. He spent months in a rehabilitation hospital where despite the odds he did learn to walk again. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments helped but his cancer was progressing. In 1999, Ed was referred to Roswell Park for a blood and marrow transplant.

"I prayed every day that I would live to see my daughter graduate from high school. Never on my worst day did I say "why me." I just knew this was a fight to be won," he remembers.

Coping with a long and difficult illness helped Ed to re-connect with his faith and his church. "There were prayer groups all over the country praying for me. Friends and family would visit me and I felt like I was in church. Prayers and Roswell Park saved my life," he declared.

Today, Ed remains active in his church. He also was recently inducted into the National Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame in Oklahoma. With pride, he watched as his daughter not only finished high school but went on to graduate from college.

Ed's message of hope for the holidays: “Rely on your faith, family and friends. And remember everyday to look around you - first right, then left. If you do, you will undoubtedly see someone in worse shape than you are and that should give you hope to continue the fight."