Pull-ups saved his life — now this cancer survivor is inspiring thousands after more than 10 surgeries

The cancer kept coming back. Again and again. At one point, Kim Dong-ho thought that if treatment would never end, maybe his life should. He climbed to the rooftop of his apartment, ready to give up. Then he remembered what his high school gym teacher had once told him: “Let’s try to overcome cancer through exercise.” Kim, now 23, installed a pull-up bar in his room and began training one to two hours a day. At the time, he was worn down physically and emotionally from repeated surgeries to remove tumors in his face. But focusing on something — anything — helped shift his mind. “Just being immersed in something was enough to lift my mood,” he said. The pull-up bar became both his workout and his therapy. As his physical strength grew, so did his confidence. He no longer felt small and withdrawn from the world. In July 2020, just one day before another surgery, Kim learned of an online pull-up competition. He filmed himself doing the exercise and entered. Then he went under the knife once more. After the surgery, a phone call came: He had won first place, beating dozens of hWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times