The South African Oscar Chalupsky will be at the start of the forthcoming edition of the International Descent of the Sella, to be played on August 6, although this time in the new specialty of surfski or sea kayak, where the winner of the event will win the Nelo 510 boat that crew. Without a doubt, it will be one of the great novelties of Sella-2022 after the long covid-19 pandemic that forced the suspension of the Asturias Canoe Festival in 2020 and 2021.
Chalupsky (1963), won the International Descent of the Sella in 1986, in K-2, with his brother Herman, and both were second in 1987 after the Asturian Ton Soto and Falu Hernanz (Sirio). Additionally, he was captain of the South African team at the Barcelona-92 Olympic Games, where he competed in the K-4 1,000 meter event. He is also a 12-time world surfski champion: his last victory (2012) came at the age of 49, 29 years after his first victory.
The veteran and award-winning South African paddler has just released a book about his illness, written by Graham Spence. “A percentage of my royalties will go to fight cancer with @campaign4cancer. I hope that this book inspires and motivates people who struggle with life”, says Oscar Chalupsky, who is in love with the International Descent of the Sella, proof to which he remains faithful.
“If anyone can beat multiple myeloma, one of the deadliest strains of the world’s deadliest disease, it’s Oscar. At the time of writing, he has bravely defied modern medicine, not only living a full and vigorous life, but doing so with a grit and optimism that many of us would consider insane,” Spence explains in the foreword. “The initial doomsday diagnosis was that he had perhaps six months to live, and – even more alarmingly – cancer would probably have been eating at his spine two years earlier. Thus, at the time of this writing, he has taunted the Grim Reaper for nearly five years. As he puts it, he is ‘holding on’ until a cure is found,” he adds.
“Oscar’s idea of ’hanging on’ is simple. There is no recoil. Without giving up. He is still out there paddling oceans, biking, swimming, golfing, keeping fit. He still lives the endless summer lifestyle, and he must be one of the oldest cancer warriors who still does. His innate, irrepressible joy, his unconquerable will and sheer appetite for life remain as indomitable as ever,” Graham explains.
“Oscar is donating a portion of his royalties from this book to Campaigning for Cancer, or C4C, as the overwhelming majority of cancer fighters in Africa are not wealthy. It is a sad fact that without expensive drugs, life expectancy is short, sharp and painful. For those on this continent unable to receive treatment – unable even to make their voices heard – there is no more powerful ally than Oscar Chalupsky”, explains the author of the manuscript.
“I hope that this book about a truly larger than life character, who can laugh in the face of adversity and triumph, will also be an inspiration to others,” concludes his foreword, signed in June of this year 2022, Graham Spence.
