Kirk's Story

This picture was taken on November 14th, the morning after my second surgery, in my hospital room at M.D. Anderson. That morning I made a total commitment to finish a Half Ironman in 2008. Granted, I had no idea what that fully meant or what the commitment required. But with the support of my wife, family and friends I knew that I could do it.

My name is Kirk Offel and I am a 32 year old U.S. Navy Veteran (Submarines). In September 2007 I was diagnosed with a form of Pleomorphic Sarcoma known as Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma (MFH). Between September and November I underwent two surgeries and was treated at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Just prior to my second surgery my medical team at M.D. Anderson sat me down to prepare me with the fact that they would not be able to guarantee that I would be able to run again and that I should be relieved that I am keeping the leg. The original plan was to remove such a large portion of tissue, similar to a “shark bite,” that it would take many months to recover. I was told to prepare myself for a long recovery.

About a week later I was at a business dinner with a very good friend (Rob Reid) and it was obvious to him that I was emotionally affected by the possibility of not having full function of my leg again. In an effort to cheer me, and like a good Chief Petty Officer, Rob told me to immediately dismiss the doctors message and he asked (we call that an order in the U.S. Navy) me to make a commitment with him on the spot to begin to immediately train for a Marathon after my recovery regardless of what the outcome would be. It was the exact challenge that I needed to be faced with at that time.

So when I awoke from the second surgery (On November 13th) I learned that the doctors had made a last minute decision to take less muscle and as a result I have been able to recover much faster. Sometime between my dinner meeting with Rob and my final surgery the idea of a marathon slowly transitioned into an idea to do a Sprint Triathlon. Then that idea transitioned into an Olympic Triathlon which finally left us with the idea of doing a Half Ironman in 2008.

It has been ~2 months since my second surgery and in that time I have managed to find a strong Physical Therapist to help me build a baseline, join a very progressive gym (Life Time Fitness) which offers all of the resources needed to train for a triathlon, and start a Non-Profit in partnership (benefiting) with M.D. Anderson.

My objective is to train for a Half Ironman in Austin next October (the 5th) with a small unit of my friends and family with the objective to raise $50K for M.D. Anderson. I should mention that previous to my second surgery I had never even thought about doing a triathlon in my life let alone train for a Half Ironman. It wasn’t until someone told me that I may never run again that I began to think seriously about my health.

I was cleared the week of January 7th by my plastic surgery team to start swimming and I am hoping that I will be cleared to begin running by February 2008.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. As you can see above, I dodged a huge bullet and things could have been much worse. I am blessed with tremendous love and support as well as some of the finest medical professionals in the world.

Now my mission is to help increase Sarcoma awareness and raise money for sarcoma research. I ask that you join me in this mission!

With Strength and Determination,
Kirk O.