Brent Hickman was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was 13 years old.

He said that he feels "extremely lucky" that after having his left leg amputated above the knee and going through chemotherapy that he walked away with his life.

Many of the children he met and spent time with during his two years at the hospital were not as lucky.

Hickman has been in the headlines before, first for his participation in Ride to Conquer Cancer and then for his role in the Kelowna Apple Olympic Distance Triathlon.

Now he is raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada by competing in the Lavaman Triathlon on March 24, which will take place in Hilo, on Hawaii.

Hickman trains several times a week, in swimming, running, and biking with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training coached by James Greenwood.

Triathlon was the next scariest thing to do after the Ride To Conquer and so he challenged himself.

"Running is my least favourite activity of the three, by far," said Hickman, adding that he enjoys swimming the most.

"I knew how to swim, not drown, but had never swum laps or swum on a swim team, so I took lessons on how to swim," he said.

Swimming is the only sport where you don't have to wear something to do it, he said about not having to wear a prosthesis.

"You are just free and it's awesome," he explained.

Running is the scariest by far, he said, explaining how his running prosthetic is different from his everyday prosthetic.

"The suspension is different, [my running leg] has a suction seal on the inside, while my everyday prosthetic has a pin that actually anchors it," Hickman said.

His next step was to figure out the steps between the transitions, he said about learning how to prepare for a triathlon.

"After the swimming portion, somebody would hand me crutches and I would use them to get out of the water.

Then I would put on my cycling leg and move from there to the actual transition area and put on my cycling shoes, helmet, all the stuff."

Hickman originally became interested in triathlons when he saw Sarah Reinertsen on TV. He saw her as an inspiration as she is an American triathlete and former Paralympic track athlete born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a bone-growth disorder.

Her affected leg was amputated above the knee at age seven.

"It's a little bit different to have an above-knee amputation than a below knee," he said.

"There are lots of athletes I had seen before who are below-knee amputees, who are really good runners, but I had never seen an above-knee amputee runner before," explained Hickman.

"I never considered myself an athlete, but after watching someone with a similar disability train and compete with so much passion, I was in awe," he said, adding that he is excited at the thought of getting to race on the Ironman course in Hilo, the same course he saw in that first documentary of Reinertsen.

Leukemia remains the most common pediat-ric cancer (those age 19 and younger). Leukemia accounts for 26 per cent of all childhood cancers and causes 28 per cent of deaths due to childhood cancer.

"I have been cancer free for 25 years and still consider myself extremely lucky," he explained.

To support Hickman visit www.tinyurl.com/brenttnt.

smclaren@mrtimes.com