Just when the Bland family thought it was their time to finally take a sigh of relief, destiny knocked on their doors once again. Shortly after recovery from his bowel cancer, Heath Bland’s almost casual visit to the hospital for flu-like symptoms revealed his diagnosis of lung cancer. His perseverance and optimism through his journey with the debilitating disease has motivated his brother and LIV Golf Pro Richard Bland to skyrocket his once-perceivably sunken career. What has resulted thus is his two senior major wins, the recent “very special” one coming at the U.S. Senior Open where Bland defeasted Japan’s Hiroyuki Fujita on the fourth playoff hole.
Debilitating and heart-wrenching as the threatening disease of cancer often is, Richard Bland continues to see the light at the end of the long and scary tunnel his brother has faced for the last 15 to 16 months. Announcing the latest news of hope, shortly after his triumph at the U.S. Seniors Open, Bland revealed that his older sibling will “have surgery soon to get rid of the tumor from his lung.” The good news is that the surgery will be a keyhole one and the 55-year-old from Totton will soon be discharged.
The LIV Golf Pro’s pain was still evident in the way he shared his true feelings for what’s ahead for Heath, and how he deems cancer “an absolute train wreck.” He said, “Yeah, we’re just praying that hopefully that once this is gone, that’s it for him. It’s one of those diseases that’s just — you know, we wish we could eradicate. You wouldn’t want to wish it on anyone’s life. You hear the statistics that it’s kind of one in every two people get it, and you always kind of think, you know what, it won’t happen to us. When it does, it’s like a train wreck. It’s an absolute train wreck.”
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“I just wanted to win for him so bad,” were some of Richard Bland’s first words after he won his first senior major title at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Inspired by his brother, who also happens to be a lover of the game of golf, the Cleeks GC founding member dedicated his first win and his first trophy to him. But was that the same case with his second major win?
Who did Richard Bland dedicate his second major trophy to?
His ailing brother remained at the back of his mind when Bland became the 12th golfer to win his U.S. Senior Open debut and the second Englishman to win the title. However, he chose not to dedicate his second major trophy to him, unlike his previous one, but to keep this one for himself and his wife, Catrin Nystrom.
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Talking about his decision he said, “I was fortunate to win the PGA and obviously win — I think I get the replica for that this week. I’ve always said that that’s his. He can have that. That was always for him. But this one right here, this one’s for me and my wife. I’m just looking forward to getting back home and seeing the family. I’ve been away for four weeks now. Yeah, really looking forward to getting home.”
Even though, Richard Bland chose to keep his second major trophy for himself, certain that Heath Bland will be one of the first ones to welcome him home, hopefully healthier than ever before. The bond of the Bland brothers continues to grow deeper each day, and we hope this duo soon gets to fulfill their long-standing dream of playing together once again.
Richard Bland’s Major Triumph Turns Bittersweet as Tragic Family Update Surfaces: ‘Absolute Train Wreck’
