A 49-year-old triathlete suddenly lost vision in one eye. He was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, despite never smoking.

A former ultra-athlete, Dave Nitsche was diagnosed with stage‑4 lung cancer at 49 and given 1–2 years to live — now 57, he’s outlived that prognosis by years thanks to targeted cancer drugs.
He credits his lifelong fitness and high VO2 max with helping him tolerate treatment and stay active: he bikes to appointments and is training for long races.
His cancer was first spotted after sudden vision loss (his eye was removed), and his treatments have been covered by Canada’s national health system.