Former St. Jude Patient Helping Give Back To Hospital That Saved His Life

“I’m a St. Jude patient.  Back in 1980, I was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma.  I was given 60 to 90 days to live and the doctors at St. Jude gave me hope that I could beat cancer.  I did,” said Jay Cobb.

Nearly 40 years later, Cobb is still around and he hasn’t forgotten the place he says changed his life.

“Any opportunity I can find, I give back to the hospital,” he said.  “We’re doing a workout just to bring awareness to St. Jude’s Hospital.”

Cobb owns Next Generation Crossfit in east Tulsa.  Saturday morning, athletes went through crossfit’s “highly varied functional movements performed at high intensity” for a cause even better than their own health.

“People just came and gave donations to the hospital,” said Cobb.

Cobb took up crossfit several years ago and credits it with, not only keeping him healthy, but improving his quality of life.

“It makes you to where you can basically face life better and, hopefully, when I’m 60, I’m still able to do this,” he said.

Saturday’s workout was named after medical procedures at St. Jude, with movements like “anesthesia air squats” and a “methotrexate mile” run.  At the end of the day, the event raised just shy of $1,000 for the place Cobb says saved his life.