“Age is just a number” and when it comes to 81-year-old, Fran Anderson, she has encountered all the challenges posed by her elderliness. Instead of confining herself in her home, she set out on an adventure hiking to achieve the incredible feat around the Grand Canyon. 

Through the 24-mile rim-to-rim hike across the canyon, Anderson exhibited the indomitable spirit that encouraged her to take on this risky journey. However, there is a lot more to find about her that makes her journey of life even more interesting.   

A close call with cancer

Anderson, a resident of Orange California initiated this thrilling escapade on September 3 aiming to complete the exhaustive distance of 24 miles in 14 hours. What makes her journey more audacious is her recent battles with terminal diseases. Already battling with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a variation of cancer, Anderson finished the hike in 21 hours.

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Besides cancer, pneumonia had led her to the brink of death, five months earlier on this trek. However, the former chorus line dancer for the U.S. troops refused to adieu her active lifestyle.  

Apart from illness, Anderson suffered from a broken shoulder and knee during a dreadful fall that required extensive surgery. Her recent interview with USA Today echoed enthusiasm when speaking about her hike to the Grand Canyon, “Finishing was my goal and it was going to happen no matter what.”

Resilience in the face of a grueling climb

With the support of six members of her family, Anderson completed her hike. As the day progressed, she was impeded with knee and hip pain. However, she defied all odds like she did when she went on to visit Machu Picchu in Peru weeks after leaving her wheelchair. 

Although she felt demotivated during some instances based on her slow progress, moments later, on achieving the summit her perspectives altered. Anderson soon realized that her family’s unconditional love and the joy they experienced in her success outweighed all the pain and doubts she carried with her during the journey. 

Even after completing numerous quests, Anderson refuses to take a rest and continues her adventure spree. Among her upcoming feats, a 17-mile hike to the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park prompts her to be in her best physical and mental state.

Anderson presents herself as a living example serving as a reminder that life’s greatest adventures are meant to be pursued irrespective of age. Resilience and perseverance are the only two components required to overcome the formidable challenges that might come in the way of experiencing nature’s beauty.

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