Filipino-American Rodolfo Sebastian Carlos, a 38-year-old thyroid cancer survivor, is among 8,000 inspirational people across the globe who were chosen to carry the Olympic Flame as it travels across every county in the United Kingdom.
Carlos, who hails from Parañaque City, will carry the torch through Willenhall on June 30.
He was selected by the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) through the “Moment to Shine” campaign launched in May 2011 calling for people across the world to nominate someone they know with an inspiring story and carry the Olympic torch.
Carlos, who hails from Parañaque City, will carry the torch through Willenhall on June 30.
He was selected by the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) through the “Moment to Shine” campaign launched in May 2011 calling for people across the world to nominate someone they know with an inspiring story and carry the Olympic torch.
About 115 torchbearers a day will bear the Olympic Flame in an 8,000-mile journey around the UK before its arrival at the Olympic Stadium to officially mark the start of the Games.
The Flame will travel through over 1,000 communities in the UK by boat, cable car, hot air balloon, motorbike, and horseback among others.
Inspire and influence
The website of the Philippine Embassy in the United States said Carlos learned that he had thyroid cancer a few weeks before starting work at the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) in Atlanta, Georgia.
Letting the disease take over is a big no-no for Carlos. To help rebuild his strength, he turned to practicing Filipino martial arts.
With the help of his brother, he has been actively promoting the sport to various branches of the military, police, and community watch volunteers.
Carlos also credits faith in God and his family as instrumental to his recovery.
With the help of his brother, he has been actively promoting the sport to various branches of the military, police, and community watch volunteers.
Carlos hopes to serve as an inspiration to the youth, bring awareness to thyroid cancer, and inspire fellow survivors to support those battling the disease, as he carries the Olympic torch.
Four other Filipinos
Aside from Carlos, four other Filipinos were chosen to carry the symbolic torch:
- Steven Cheung, 19, an Olympic Youth Ambassador for Waltham Forest in the United Kingdom;
- Reymund Enteria, 30, an occupational therapist in the United Kingdom;
- Joven Mallo, 29, sales and services Assistant of Crowne Plaza Manila, and
- Marcy Reyes, executive housekeeper of Holiday Inn, 47.
A press statement issued by the IHG said Mallo was chosen for his heroic act during the 2009 Typhoon Ondoy.
Reyes, meanwhile, who has been with Holiday Inn for 19 years, was chosen as a torchbearer for being an exemplary employee, a mother, and an avid charity worker.
Last April 20, LOCOG held a full dress rehearsal of the Olympic Torch Relay which place on the Leicester to Peterborough stretch of the Relay route.
Theft of fire
Being the symbol of the Games, The Olympic Torch commemorates the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus. It was reintroduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, and has been part of the modern Games ever since.
The torch is made of aluminum and perforated with 8,000 circular holes, each representing a single carrier of the torch as it makes its way to the opening ceremony.
With more than 10,000 expected entrants this year, the London Summer Olympics will be held from July 27 to August 12. - VVP, GMA News
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