Iclif : Defeating the Odds | Dr. William Tan
Channel: Iclif Executive Education Centre at ASB
Date: 08/02/2017

He has run 7 marathons on 7 continents within 70 days. He has done the prestigious Boston and the London Marathon within seven days of each other. He has been to the North Pole and done the Antarctic marathon. 

A resident physician at the Singapore National Cancer Centre, Dr. William Tan holds a first class degree from Harvard University, United States of America. Since childhood, Dr. Tan has been paralysed from the waist down because of polio at the age of two. 

His parents strongly believed in the power of education to transform people so despite his physical disabilities, they insisted on sending him a regular school so that he could connect and be integrated with other children who were able-bodied. 

Being in a mainstream school gave him a strong educational background, and eventually opened up many opportunities. It developed his character, teaching manage conflict at a young age and equipping him with valuable skills for the rest of his life. His parents recognised that there was no easy way out for him and that it might be difficult for other children to accept him with a disability. True enough, he found it very difficult to get along with other kids because he was different, and he was bullied in school. 

Dr. Tan’s parents were very nurturing and encouraged him to compensate for what he lacked, making up for his lost ability to walk, being paralysed from the waist down. He grew up with the mindset of maximising his brain and upper body, which has made him a very high achiever in life. He learned many things from his father, who came from a very rich family in China but left everything to start from scratch in Southeast Asia. 

His father lost his job as a clerical officer for spending too much time with his disabled son and had to find other means of livelihood. Attempt after attempt failed until he finally started selling fried bananas in a pushcart. Watching him overcome these setbacks, Dr. Tan learned to never give up. Failure is humbling, but it matters how many times you fail, but what makes a difference is how many times you get back up.

In 1997, after a long interview process Dr. Tan was given admission into a medical college in Australia. He is still very grateful to the selection committee of the University of Newcastle for recognizing his abilities and seeing him as a person beyond the wheelchair because many decision-makers only saw him as somebody crippled and confined to a wheelchair. The selection committee believed that with nurturing he would make a great doctor in a wheelchair. After serving in Australia for a number of years, he returned to become the resident physician at the national cancer clinic in Singapore. 

At the age of 51, he discovered that he was suffering from stage four leukemia. He was devastated and angry because he had gone through tough times with a childhood disability and discrimination while growing up. Given his a tough journey so far he had hoped that the rest of his life would be smooth sailing.

He was at the pinnacle of his life as a  world record holder in Paralympic races and as a physician, so it was difficult to accept the prognosis which gave him nine to 12 months to live. He struggled to decide whether to receive the treatment of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant...or spend the last 12 months achieving his bucket list. 

He was suddenly confronted with his mortality as he could no longer practice as a physician, nor train as a Paralympian. He lost his meaning and purpose to life. He lost his dreams. Going through chemotherapy was difficult and at times he felt like giving up but the thought of his mother who had struggled to bring him up as a child with a disability, that she would be devastated if he died prematurely, kept him going.  

He remembered how his parents had taught him from a young age to never give up, no matter how difficult the circumstances. For the sake of his loved ones - his mother, fiance, siblings and friends, and for himself, he went through the treatment. 

He also thought that it would be meaningful for him as a doctor to have gone through cancer because when he went back to work as a doctor at the National Cancer Centre, he could be an inspiration. In this way, he derived strength from finding meaning and purpose in his suffering.

Now 7 years in remission, he is very grateful for the new lease on life. He is back to wheelchair racing and will embark on more sporting endeavours, having recently returned from a 500 kilometer four-day race from London to Paris to raise money for cancer research. He is planning for his 10th Boston Marathon, and working towards the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. He plans to retire thereafter to become a volunteer sports administrator to nurture younger athletes.

With great leadership energy, comes great responsibility.