Cancerman to Ironman: A Police Officer’s Journey of Arresting Illness

By Nidhin Valsan

In late 2020, while preparing for his new posting in Goa, police officer Nidhin Valsan was struck by a mysterious, excruciating pain that set off a chain of life-altering events. Months of unbearable suffering and numerous medical consultations culminated in a devastating diagnosis: stage-4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In this deeply personal memoir, Valsan recounts his experience – from the harrowing ordeal of seeking the right diagnosis and coming to terms with it, gruelling chemotherapy sessions in his home state of Kerala, to his momentous decision during rehabilitation to pursue an audacious goal: competing in the Ironman triathlon, one of the world’s most demanding endurance challenges. Despite daunting fears of relapse and a string of personal hurdles, he undergoes rigorous training and participates in the race in Goa within a year of his diagnosis, defying all odds and surpassing his own limits to ultimately become an Ironman.

Cancerman to Ironman is more than a tale of athletic triumph. Raw, revealing and strikingly candid, it unveils the heart behind Valsan’s battle, the support system that sustained him, and the mental and physical strategies that fuelled his perseverance – a testament to the resilience of the human spirit during life’s darkest days.