A 16-year-old boy was hospitalized after being shot in the leg Saturday night on Orange Street, police said.
Following the approval of AR 1312.2, RUSD is seeking community volunteers to serve on book review committees.
For five decades, Redlands Meals on Wheels has delivered food—and care—to homebound residents. Now, the volunteer-run nonprofit needs community support to keep its mission alive.
Diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer as a baby, Aussie coach who beat the odds inspires on and off the field
REDLANDS – Michael Crossland, 41, knows when his first dose of chemotherapy arrived.
It was May 2, 1985 – his first birthday.
Crossland is the coach of the Aussie Expos, a team of teenagers here for a five-game series of baseball games against the Redlands 909ers. Crossland hails from the Australian surfing village of Sawtell, but his battle against cancer is instructive to all.
Diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma at 11 months, Crossland was given a four percent chance to live. He has crushed that, surviving a rollercoaster of medical problems and a horrific cancer drug trial. He has forged ahead to become a successful businessman, an inspirational speaker, a best-selling author and a humanitarian.
“I hope that I’m able to bring some hope and a bit of inspiration and courage – that striking out or losing is not the worst thing in the world,” Crossland said. “We learn a lot more from our losses than wins.”
Crossland did not have friends nor go to school at first. He was in the hospital.
Two years of chemotherapy did not work, and tumors ravaged his body. They climbed into his aorta and wrapped around his heart and spine. In 1988 his mother was asked if she wanted to carry him into the theater because it might be the last time she got to hold her son alive.
After an unsuccessful surgery, Crossland received the trial drug DTIC. Twenty-four of the 25 children put on the drug died.
The young boy was covered with blisters and wrapped in bandages. But the drugs burned the cancer cells, and he was free of cancer in 1989.
Crossland was told he would never play sports because his body was exhausted, and his immune system zapped. He had his first heart attack at 12, preceding an onslaught of germs and bacteria, glandular fever, chicken pox, and pneumonia.
“They told me if I reached my teen years it would be a miracle,” Crossland said. “But my family and I believed in miracles, so I went to school. I got brutally picked on because I had no hair or eyelashes and had scabby skin and bandages. I was bullied. But I learned that your value does not decrease based on others’ inability to see your worth. We can’t let the ugliness in others impact the beauty in us.”
Aussie Expos batter Oliver Pickford steps to the plate with two out in the third inning on Monday against Redlands.
“C’mon Ollie, say hot,” Crossland yells. “Put the ball on the ground. Level swing.”
As if on cue, Pickford scalds the ball up the middle for a base hit to drive in a run. Crossland applauds.
Now a husband and a father of two, Crossland shrugged off dire predictions to play college baseball at Concordia University in Austin, Texas. Now he uses his expertise to tutor youngsters and inspire as a highly sought inspirational speaker.
“It is not about the cards we are dealt, it’s how we choose to play them,” Crossland said.
Crossland joined the corporate world after college, but fancy cars and suits did not inspire him. He felt empty.
His mom and dad separated, which depressed him. Bacterial meningitis and fluid on the brain wreaked havoc.
In one of his darkest hours, Crossland realized he needed to start giving. He opened an orphanage for 44 and a school for 200-plus in Haiti.
(L) Michael Crossland realized he needed to start giving and opened an orphanage in Haiti. (R) Crossland inspires thousands as an inspirational speaker. (Courtesy photos)
His fortunes spiraled upward. Australian TV did a documentary on his life. Invitations to speak in America and Australia poured in. He toured with the likes of Richard Branson, the Dalai Lama and Tony Robbins. He spoke at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas before 15,000.
In his whirl of activity, Crossland failed to notice a bump in his neck. The cancer was back. He arranged his funeral and did a video message saying good-bye to his family. But surgery removed the cancer.
Crossland persists. He has written two books about his life and philosophy. He has had more tumors, but surgery was successful. He is unsinkable.
Despite only being told what he could not do, Crossland has done so much more. He has muzzled the naysayers, inspired the masses.
“I realized that it’s not adversity that defines us, it’s how we deal with adversity that allows us to live a remarkable life,” he said.
Reach John Murphy at berdooman@gmail.com and follow him at berdooman@gmail.com.
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