as they screamed across
south central Ontario to
Hamilton. “I thought I
was going to die,” says
Scott.
After arriving at
Hamilton General, an
MRI exam was per-
formed and revealed
more specifically the
cause of the symptoms: a
tumour was found near
his pineal gland and cer-
ebellum. Scott had sur-
gery at 6:00 a.m. the next
morning, and over the
course of a month he’d
have four more surgeries
to carefully remove as
much of the tumour as
possible and insert a
shunt. In less than one
month, Scott lost 60
pounds, shrinking from
a formidable bodybuild-
er of 230 pounds down
to just 170.
FITNESS TO THE RESCUE
“I have no doubt that
bodybuilding saved my
life,” says Scott. “The
doctors all said that I
was very lucky to be
stronger than an ox
and not have the whole
thing affect me as badly
as it otherwise would.”
Fortunately, another
series of follow-up tests
showed that the tumour
was non-malignant.
By April of 2009,
Scott began a course of
radiation therapy which
lasted six weeks. While
such a program of treat-
ment would exhaust
the average person,
Scott’s strength from
bodybuilding once again
worked to his advantage.
He went for follow-
up MRIs every three
months, which consis-
tently showed that the
tumour was shrinking.
By the summer of 2010,
it was completely gone.
Since receiving this
great news, Scott was
still not out of the woods
yet. He nonetheless had
to struggle with reha-
bilitation which took the
entire year of 2010. But
an unfazed spirit is an in-
surmountable spirit. Scott
got back on that horse of
training for bodybuilding
and in November 2011
he won a Heavyweight
competition.
“Life throws us curves
to see how strong we are,
and how capable we are of
handling hard work,” says
Scott. “After four brain
operations and a long time
healing, I can honestly say
that bodybuilding saved
my life not just once,
but twice – it gave me a
purpose.”
“LIFE THROWS US CURVES TO SEE
HOW STRONG WE ARE, AND HOW
CAPABLE WE ARE OF HANDLING
HARD WORK.”
SCOTT COOK
A HERO WHO GIVES BACK
As someone who likes
to go above and beyond,
Scott also took it upon
himself to give back to the
community which had
supported his rehabilita-
tion. He co-founded an
entity called “Mo-Muscle”
in 2012, which ran three
successful bodybuilding
competitions in support
of the same charities that
helped Scott. In all, he
managed to raise $100,000
and was picked up by Fu-
sion Bodybuilding supple-
ments as a partner. While
Mo-Muscle eventually
disbanded, Scott to this
day is resolved to get back
to another circumstance
where he can organize
bodybuilding events for
charity.
“I want to continue
to share,” says Scott. “The
lesson from all of this
is never to give up and
always help others when
you can.”
SUPER SCOTT
Age: 34
Born: Kitchener, ON
Resides: Kitchener, ON
Height: 5 foot 9
Weight (Off-Season):
205 pounds
Weight (Competition):
215 pounds
Ambition: Budding
Motivational Speaker
Highest Placing:
Heavyweight Champion,
2011 KW Oktoberfest
Natural Classic
Favourite Cheat
Food: Pastries, Cookies
SCOTT’S
PHILOSOPHY:
“WHEN IT
COMES TO
TRAINING,
PAIN WILL
ALWAYS BE
THERE. IT’S
HOW YOU
HANDLE IT
HEAD ON,
AND THEN
OVERCOME
IT.”
MUSCLEMEMORYMAG.COM
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