Using humor in the cancer war: Survivor Ethan Zohn keeps it funny for his favorite tribe

CanCare's 17th annual luncheon celebrating cancer survivors Thursday at the Westin Galleria drew an immense and appreciative crowd, as well as one particularly attractive (and familiar) face — Survivor: Africa winner Ethan Zohn.

The luncheon is planned each year in conjunction with National Cancer Survivors Day (which is Sunday this year) and brings cancer survivors, their families, friends, and the medical providers and volunteers who help support them together to share their stories.

After a touching testimony by brain cancer survivor Mike Parker and his wife Michelle, Zohn took the stage to share his own battle, during his mid-30s, with a rare form of Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Zohn made note of the irony of the show that made him famous being called Survivor, and said he was thankful that he hadn't been cast instead on Six Feet Under.

Although Zohn recovered quickly — he ran the New York City marathon just 10 months after completing treatment with a stem cell transplant — it took two failed chemotherapy treatments and a clinical trial before his cancer went into remission.

Likening the cancer community to a new "tribe" of survivors, Zohn said surviving cancer was kind of like being "a member of an elite club that no one really wants to belong to." 

His speech was warm and well-received, especially his quips about lasting on Survivor because his long locks meant he ever-more resembled Jesus, who no one would dare vote off, and his assurance to the audience that "I'm a nice Jewish boy, so I invested [my prize money] well, everyone . . . With a nice Nigerian guy I met over email."

Zohn also spoke about Grassroot Soccer, the foundation he founded after his winning Survivor run to raise youth awareness of HIV and AIDS in Africa.

But perhaps still more compelling, at least at my table, was one Frances Poole Knight. Herself a breast cancer survivor, Frances is a 2009 gold-medal winning swimmer in the U.S. National Senior Games. Once a member of the Lamar High School swim team, 75-year-old Frances plans to compete in the 2011 Senior Games here in Houston later this month.

CanCare is a Houston-based cancer support organization that pairs recently diagnosed cancer patients with survivor mentors, provides support to family members and facilitates regular hospital visits.

Ever lighthearted, Zohn encouraged luncheon attendees to donate to the cause, saying "we need to raise as much money in one day as Maria is going to get from Arnold in the divorce."