Heinrich Sam News

Jan 07, 2008 Update

Well what can I say. I must be the proudest dad in the world today .

After his long layoff from skiing to recover from cancer, Heinrich arrived back home from his mom's on the evening of the 26th of December. The next morning he was on the water at 7:00 am in the morning. To my surprise he looked very sharp. We spent about 2 hours on the water and was happy to be back doing the things we enjoy doing.

We did three sets that 1st day, and for the next 3 days we did go through all the basic tricks and started thinking of what to do should we go ski in the 1st tournament that was just 5 days away. So we sat down spoke about it and decided what the hell. Let's go give it ago and as the sport is so small in our country we needed to support the local events.

We arrived at the tournament and to most people they thought Heinrich was just there as a spectator , but he entered the tournament and I was very nervous, but he was very calm and relaxed.

Well, to make a long story short by the end of the tournament he had set 4 pending Junior World Records of which we are submitting the one trick record of 9850. The other trick run was 9000. Slalom was 19.4 and 19.2 .

So all in all not bad for 4 days of skiing after many months off the water and major surgery.

Regards
Eugene

Nov 12 UPDATE
Heinrich Sam is doing very well after his surgery to remove the cancerous tumor from his chest bone. The doctors feel they were able to get all of it and are looking for Heinrich to lead a normal life without complications. Heinrich has regained his strength and has been bugging his dad and mom daily to get back on the water. His doctors have cleared him to ski, but Eugene informs us that he intends to wait until mid December just to make sure Heinrich's body has plenty of time to heal properly.

Eugene and Heinrich plan to travel to Australia from the 24th of Jan 2008 up to the 10th of Feb 2008. The will be traveling the country visiting skiers like Pete O'Neil and doing coaching clinics along the way. They will be in Sydney and then up to Mulwala. They also plan to attend the Renmark Expo.

For more information on their trip, or to book lessons, you can contact:

Eugene Sam by email at eugene@voltex.co.za or

Peter O'Neil at waterskishop@bordernet.com.au

Oct 9 UPDATE
Heinrich's surgery went well and he's recovering quickly. Doctors say that Heinrich's being it great physical shape will help speed his recovery. He's already had one radiation treatment. Check out the topic on Heinrich on the BFC Forum by CLICKING HERE

Oct 3 UPDATE
Heinrich's surgery was performed today. He came through it well and is in good spirits.
More details by CLICKING HERE

Oct 1 UPDATE
Heinrich receives hundreds of emails from all around the word.
Eugene Sam is very grateful for all the support
Heinrich is in great spirits and is eager to get his treatments started. More details by CLICKING HERE

Sept 28 UPDATE
Doctors predict a 100% recovery for Heinrich
For the latest news on Heinrich, or to post a message for him to read,
go to the BFC FORUM by CLICKING HERE

Sept 27, 2007

BarefootCentral.com Announcement

Yesterday morning, we received a very distressing call from Eugene Sam, father of current Jr. World Overall Barefoot Champion, Heinrich Sam.

Heinrich has been skiing very strong lately as they are preparing for Summer in South Africa. About two days ago, Heinrich started mentioning to his dad that he had been experiencing pain in his chest. The pain had been getting worse and after an early morning jump set, Heinrich told him that he could hardly breath due to the pain. So Eugene took him to see his doctor.

After several tests, their doctor requested that they perform a biopsy on a lump they found on Heinrich's chest. To everyone's surprise, the doctors came back an informed Eugene that his 15 year old son is being diagnoses with cancer. Eugene is overcome with emotion, as any parent would be for their child. I reassured Eugene that things are never as bad as they first seem and to be patient for more test results. Our prayers would be with them both.

This morning, I spoke to Eugene and Heinrich. Heinrich is in good spirits and is bound and determined to beat this. I told him he has thousands of footers and friends around the world cheering for him and we'll do whatever we can to help him in his fight. He said to tell everyone HI.

Eugene informed me that the doctors claim the cancer is not in an aggressive stage and they hope to be able to treat it with chemotherapy and/or radiation. As we spoke to Eugene, they were taking Heinrich to have another CAT Scan and MRI. They plan to start chemotherapy on Monday.

We're all in a state of shock over this news. It's a terrible disease and one we all hate hearing about. But it can be beat. So please keep Heinrich and Eugene in your prayers. If you'd like to send cards, letters, or gifts, please send them to:

If you mail via USPS or Royal Post, please send to: (please note that US mail takes 6-8 weeks to reach SA)
Heinrich Sam c/o Eugene Sam
P.O. Box 1156
Pretoria, Republic of South Africa 0001

If you wish to send a letter, you can elect to send an email instead, and Eugene will print them out and read them to Heinrich. Eugene's email address is: eugene@voltex.co.za. If you'd like your letter posted on BFC so all of Heinrich's friends and family in South Africa can read them and talk to him about them when they visit him, just CC cg@barefootcentral.com when you send the email to Eugene.

If you wish to FedEx, UPS, or DHL a package (note on the package that it is a gift with $1 Declared value)
Heinrich Sam c/o Eugene Sam
433 Pretorius Street
Pretoria, Republic of South Africa 0001

They claim that cancer patients that maintain a positive attitude have a far better chance of beating the disease. We may not be there to hold his hand and encourage him, but we can send plenty of cards and letters to let him know he has family all around the world and we're here to support him.

Chuck Gleason

For the latest news on Heinrich, or to post a message for him to read,
go to the BFC FORUM by CLICKING HERE