longtrousers wrote:
Birdmantris wrote:
Horrible news. Sean was an awesome presence at the Kona party last month. Makes it seem so quick.
RIP Sean
I guess that was the guy who stayed moderating after departure of Steve Fleck?
Indeed shocking. Must have been hard for him listening to that blond girl who survived cancer.
Sean was always so excited to celebrate with me when I had my clear cancer check ups. I know he celebrated with everyone who has had cancer, hearing about those like myself who had (so far) defeated it).
Here's a tribute post to Sean I posted on my Facebook page yesterday:
This is for you
Sean English!! RIP brother. I love you and miss you so much already! Yesterday I lost a friend to kidney cancer. For those of you who knew Sean, you knew what a presence he was, what an encouragement he was to everyone around him, that he rarely complained about his unfortunate situation the past few years, and that he always was super grateful for everyone's support. He was a true, stubborn fighter, and he didn't accept his diagnosis well. He loved life too much, and he wasn't wanting to leave us yet. That's why he fought to the very end. I wanted to share a few memorable memories that I have with Sean. My friendship with Sean goes back to about 2008 when we both lived in Santa Barbara. I was getting into the triathlon scene there after college. Sean worked at Hazards bike shop, and he was the race announcer at all the local races. In 2009, I told him I wanted to become a pro triathlete. I think he thought it was a long shot, and rightfully so. My first funny memory of Sean was hearing him yell at me from the microphone after I collapsed at the finish of the 2009 Santa Barbara triathlon. I had lost my water bottles on the bike after hitting pot holes, and was quite dehydrated, and by the end of the 10 mile run, I was literally running on fumes. I collapsed in the sand at the finish line (2nd photo). I remember being half out of it laying in the sand, but could still hear Sean saying some pretty funny comments about me. I remember he said something about how I was totally covered in sand and looked like a mess! A few years later I found myself racing around the county in various pro triathlon races. He was always there calling me home across the finish line. One race that I remember vividly was the
REVOLUTION3 Triathlon (REV3TRI) Knoxville, TN race (2nd picture). He was always dancing in the announcers booth, blasting the tunes. Sean loved to be behind the microphone. He loved to encourage people get across the finish line. And Sean was darn good as his job. He was hired to MC many of the biggest races around the country. After I sopped racing triathlons as much, I didn't run into Sean much for a handful of years. We didn't talk much for years, until he was diagnosed with cancer. He had seen that I had gotten diagnosed with bladder cancer about a year prior, and he messaged me through Facebook, saying he was scared, and he wanted to chat with sometime who too had been told they had cancer. He hadn't told hardly anyone yet, had not made it public, but wanted to talk with me. From late 2016 til now, we talked a lot, and regularly. I just listened to a voicemail he left me on 9/2/16, that I've had saved on my phone ever since. He wanted to talk, and was just given the clear to start the oncology journey (he had to wait a few months until he was physically healed enough as his tumor had fractured a bone (in his spine I believe). In his voicemail he said "It’s His plan. It’s up to Him. It’s about what that I do with what He gives me." God gave him a bit over 3 more years since that day, and Sean went on a mission to spread a simple message during the time he had left. It was about doing random acts of kindness, any time, any where, for anyone. For 3 years Sean posted videos about the importance of random acts of kindness and how they can make a difference in others' lives. I remember one day in early 2017, talking for over an hour on the phone with Sean in my car. I was struggling with fear of my cancer recurring. That man's cancer was a million times worse than mine, and he encouraged me for half an hour straight, with pure positivity. What a joy to have Sean in my life. In October of 2017, I got to see Sean and sit with him for over an hour in Kona, HI watching the Ironman world championships finish with him (1st picture). He was quite sick, but was still in his booth overlooking the road the athletes were running on, about a half mile from the finish line, microphone in hand, cheering on the athletes (and saying lots of funny jokes to them). If was tough to see him in that state, but amazing to sit with him and talk in person. I am grateful to have had some good, deep conversations with Sean the past few years of his life. As I tear up writing this, I want to say thank you Sean for loving people so much, for fighting so hard and inspiring so many, and for always being so darn grateful. I miss you a ton, and look forward to seeing you again some day up above! RIP
Sean English. Love you brother!
Ryan Borger - Denver, CO: Realtor. Former pro triathlete/coach. Cancer survivor. podiumproperties.com