When Kevin Lebret-White's oncologist examined him in December 2006, the prognosis was not good. The then-36-year-old Wellpinit, Wash., elementary school teacher was told that his colorectal cancer had metastasized and, at best, he had two years to live.
"I thought about my wife and my two daughters," Lebret-White recalls. "How would I take care of them financially? I thought about all the great days in their lives I would miss."
His life after that was a series of chemotherapy sessions that robbed him of his strength and optimism.
Then his dermatologist told him about First Descents, a Colorado-based group that helped young adults cope with their cancer through outdoors adventures. Lebret-White didn't give it a lot of thought, but when he later found a brochure for the group while undergoing chemo, he knew it was his destiny.
Last July, he attended a First Descents kayaking camp with former world champion paddler Brad Ludden in Montana's Glacier National Park. He left with a new nickname and a new outlook on life.
"My camp nickname was Balboa, but that soon became just Boa," he says. "I went there with no expectations. I'm a volunteer EMT-firefighter and rescue diver, so I'm used to the outdoors. But being upside down underwater didn't appeal to me."
He did find a world where every thought was positive and everyone was supportive.
"It is hard to explain, but in those five days I was able to trust in everyone," Lebret-White says. "There was the euphoria of a magic world you might only see in a movie. That's First Descents."
The organization was founded in 2001 by Ludden, whose aunt had been diagnosed with cancer in 1999. Looking for a way to help, he chose what he knew best.
"I wanted to give young people an identity other than cancer," Ludden says.
Programs include mountaineering and biking, but kayaking is the core for 2009.
"Kayaking is a legitimate challenge," Ludden says. "We don't make the water warmer or the rocks softer. We replace what the cancer took away with natural beauty and the power of water. We show them that they're not fragile."
Giving campers control is a big part of the program.
"There is an urgent need to educate people about the growing young-adult cancer population and to raise awareness of the resources these patients have to treat themselves," says Lauri Roach, who recently became executive director of First Descents, replacing triathlete Allan Goldberg, who died of cancer last June 22.
The camp is free, and the only requirements are that the person have cancer and be between ages 18 and 39.
It is a lean operation with a budget of only $600,000 a year. Other than three paid staff employees, everyone is a volunteer.
The sports programs run during the summer months. The rest of the year is spent fundraising.
"The perspective this job gives is great," Ludden, 27, says. "Life is terminal. To be around those who know that is very special."
For teacher Lebret-White, the experience was liberating.
"I'm not an emotional person, but I found myself crying and opening up. I learned a lot about myself, that it was OK to be vulnerable," he says.
"Seven months later, I'm more positive with my family. The girls see the difference. My focus now is on living my life."
As for the oncologist's 2006 prediction that he would be dead by now, Lebret-White says he found a new doctor. He recently celebrated his 6-year-old daughter's kindergarten graduation.
"Now I want them to grow faster so I can see it all," he says. "I don't want to miss anything."
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