ESPYS 2022 - Dick Vitale's legacy shines brightly in the next generation of cancer fighters he helped inspire

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Art Korney will never forget the day he found out his son Coleton had cancer.

Coleton Korney was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a type of tumor that forms on bone or tissue. At the hospital, shortly after hearing his son's diagnosis, Art Korney got a phone call.

«An absolute low of our lives and he calls you up,» Korney said. «He said, 'This is Dick Vitale. We're here to help.'»

Dick Vitale is synonymous with college basketball.

He's been with ESPN since 1979, the year the network launched. He is the original PTPer, calling ESPN's first-ever college basketball broadcast.

But nearly as long as Vitale has been a part of college basketball on TV, he has been involved with the fight against cancer. He helped Jim Valvano to the ESPYS' stage where Valvano delivered his iconic «Don't give up» speech.

Vitale was there at the inception of the V Foundation.

More than driving donations and lending his name and celebrity to the cause of cancer research, Vitale has made personal connections with cancer patients and their families and helped them confront their lives with cancer and thrive in their lives after it.

«The hope that he brought to the unknown, it lifted your spirits and gave you hope,» Korney said.

«Prayers and dollars,» said Vince Grande, whose son Enzo was diagnosed with Leukemia at three and a half years old. «That's what we ask for for cancer patients, to continue research. Dick brought us into his home.… It's not just about cancer, it's about life.»

In October, Vitale announced he had