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Zach Gowen Battled Cancer, Lesnar and Addiction During Inspiring Journey
An eight-year-old Zach Gowen woke up from surgery without his left leg. By the time doctors discovered the cancer in the limb, there was no choice but to amputate.
In pain, uncertain, worn down by chemotherapy, the young boy could have no idea that a future in pro wrestling awaited him. At that point, all he wanted to do was go to recess and play Nintendo.
Three weeks after the amputation, he left the hospital and returned home for the first time. His grandmother ordered the 1992 Royal Rumble pay-per-view for him as a gift. Packed into a trailer, friends, family and neighbors watched as Ric Flair outlasted 29 other opponents to become the WWE world champion.
The in-ring artistry and orchestrated chaos soothed Gowenmomentarily. Watching the matches helped him forget the traumatic life change that fate forced upon him.
"For those three hours, I didn't feel any pain at all. I didn't feel the pain of missing my leg. I didn't feel the pain of cancer, of chemotherapy, of looking different, of not fitting in, of being sick. All of that went away when I engaged in the magic of professional wrestling," Gowen told Bleacher Report.
Zach Gowen Battled Cancer, Lesnar and Addiction During Inspiring Journey
An eight-year-old Zach Gowen woke up from surgery without his left leg. By the time doctors discovered the cancer in the limb, there was no choice but to amputate.
In pain, uncertain, worn down by chemotherapy, the young boy could have no idea that a future in pro wrestling awaited him. At that point, all he wanted to do was go to recess and play Nintendo.
Three weeks after the amputation, he left the hospital and returned home for the first time. His grandmother ordered the 1992 Royal Rumble pay-per-view for him as a gift. Packed into a trailer, friends, family and neighbors watched as Ric Flair outlasted 29 other opponents to become the WWE world champion.
The in-ring artistry and orchestrated chaos soothed Gowenmomentarily. Watching the matches helped him forget the traumatic life change that fate forced upon him.
"For those three hours, I didn't feel any pain at all. I didn't feel the pain of missing my leg. I didn't feel the pain of cancer, of chemotherapy, of looking different, of not fitting in, of being sick. All of that went away when I engaged in the magic of professional wrestling," Gowen told Bleacher Report.
