Ethan Zohn
INTERVIEW
Ethan Zohn, former professional soccer player, cancer survivor, and winner of the reality hit television show Survivor: Africa, reaches out to young people through soccer, and teaches them about HIV and AIDS prevention. In a Better Living exclusive (BL), he shares inside information about overcoming cancer, the reason behind Grassroot Soccer, and how Chiropractic has played a role in his life.
BL: Ethan, it's great to catch up with you! Since winning Survivor, a lot has happened. You helped co-found Grassroot Soccer. Can you explain what that program is?
Ethan Zohn: Yes, before Survivor, actually, I lived and played professional soccer in Zimbabwe. That was in 1999 and 2000. And obviously, soccer was my life, my passion, so I moved to playing professional in the US and traveled to Zimbabwe to play in the Zimbabwe Premier League. That was kind of my first time in an area where I guess HIV/AIDS was such a huge issue. I saw some of my friends get sick, and they ended up being ostracized by the community and getting kicked off the team. And so I realized at that time in my life, I wanted to do something, but I didn't know what I could do. I didn't know what one person could do to help this massive problem in all of Africa. That's why I started Grassroot Soccer.
“AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, MY WHOLE LIFE WAS
FLIPPED UPSIDE DOWN. ”
At that moment, I didn't do anything about it. I came back to the US and continued playing soccer. After that, I was chosen to be on the show Survivor. I was in between life choices, my career was ending, and I was coaching. I saw the show as the type of program that, you know, basically is an athletic event in some sense of the word, but it touches you on an emotional, physical, and spiritual level. I loved the idea of trying to win a competition on a world stage, with millions of people watching! It was really exciting for me.
BL: What do you think that winning Survivor has meant to you?
Ethan Zohn: Well, the show coincidentally was filmed in Kenya, so that was nice to go back to Africa and be on the television show Survivor. Having my experiences in Zimbabwe, I realized if the show goes my way, and I do end up winning, I'd like to be able to do something good with the money and the fame that comes along with it. And that's kind of what led me and a couple of my buddies to start this charity, Grassroot Soccer. Basically, Grassroot Soccer uses the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize communities with the purpose of stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. To make a long story short, the show enabled me to have a little bit of money to start this and a little bit of fame to help us use as a platform. For me, it was a pretty cool opportunity, and this has helped so
many and has been able to help others through so many different layers of society.
BL: How do you see it impacting the health community currently?
Ethan Zohn: Well, I think, it's doing really well. Of course, we keep track of all of the numbers, and we've graduated about 720,000 kids from the program. We're in 40 different countries. We've got a lot of great support from governments, foundations, and corporations, and that's enabled us to do so much more than we otherwise would have been able to do.
BL: So, tell me a bit about your background. We understand your brother is a chiropractor and is someone who has influenced you. Could you tell us a bit about him?
Ethan Zohn: Well, my brother Lee, Dr. Lee Zohn, he is a chiropractor. Having my brother by my side for my whole life, working on me, definitely allowed me to perform at a higher level. I personally know a lot of people who believe medicine is more like crisis management. I learned early on in life that one of the keys of chiropractic is maintenance and prevention. You can go to the doctor even when you're not sick. In modern medicine, you have to have symptoms in order to be considered sick. Not with chiropractic. And I really feel after each adjust-
ment that I felt better and as though I could perform at a higher level, and therefore played better, did Survivor better. I owe a lot of that to my brother for keeping me healthy and keeping me aligned.
BL: So, you've had your own personal health battles including the big one, cancer. When you heard the words, "You have cancer," how did it impact your life?
Ethan Zohn: As you can imagine, my whole life was flipped upside down. And I thought, "Okay, I've been leading a healthy lifestyle.
I've been eating well. I've been exercising. I'm a professional athlete, and I've been getting regular chiropractic adjustments my whole life., How did this happen to me?"
It didn't make sense. I think one thing that really helped was that I was in good shape. Not to keep bringing it back to him, but when you get cancer, you feel really out of control, and that your body has turned against you. But the things you can control like chiropractic, food, exercise, that stuff, that was really important for me to maintain. So, even in my worst of moments, my brother was there helping me, aligning me. He put a little pack together to bring to the hospital with rubber bands, small weights, and he gave me chiropractic exercises.
BL: That's very inspiring and insightful. What kind of treatment did you receive?
Ethan Zohn: Well, my brother, the chiropractor is the one who donated his stem cells to me in order to save my life. So, he's done it in so many different ways. A true hero.
BL: Who else has impacted your life, and supports your healthy and chiropractic lifestyle?
Ethan Zohn: Ah, well, I'm dating a wonderful woman who has definitely impacted my life! Her name is Lisa Haywood. She's an interior designer here in New York City, and she gets adjusted as well.
BL: Okay. Very well aligned!...Is cancer something now that you are still living with?
Ethan Zohn: Kind of, yes. I mean, I do have a cancer that is curable. They say if you hit five years, you're considered cured. I just hit my three years in remission.
BL: Do you have any daily life tips of what you think a healthy lifestyle is, or general words of wisdom?
Ethan Zohn: Nothing that's going to shock them and be revolutionary, but for me, I think it's just being around family. Laughing and sharing the things that matter in life, like a smile and a good meal. Just eat well and stay active, and I think it will extend your life for a long time.
BL: Absolutely! Thanks for your time Ethan! Good luck in your pursuit of healthy living«
