Stars Who've Triumphed Over Life's Obstacles

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Eric Davis kept on playing baseball when life threw a curve ball at him. In 1997, amid the baseball season as a player with the Baltimore Orioles, Davis was diagnosed with colon cancer. He had surgery to remove the tumor and didn't sit still for long. As he underwent chemotherapy treatment and just five weeks following his surgery, Davis made a heroic return before the season ended. He came off a 30-game hitting streak, the longest in the majors that year and the longest at that time in Orioles' history.

Funk music veteran Rick James loves to perform his music and wasn't about to let anything stand in the way of his playing when he suffered a stroke two years ago after a blood vessel ruptured in his neck. After one of his high-energy performances, James was stricken with something doctors termed "rock `n' roll neck," which comes from the repeated whipping of the head, causing two blood vessels to burst. He said the health crisis was perhaps a message from God. "It's fate. It's got to mean something. Maybe it's God giving me a message: `Get your life in order.'" The punk-funk king, who underwent hip replacement surgery in 1997, suffered from double vision and extreme difficulty walking. He had to get around using a wheelchair, but James was determined to walk and to perform again. A few months following the stroke, he walked the red carpet with the aid of a cane to attend the premiere of the movie Life, in which he had a small role.

Robert Guillaume, the star of the former TV sitcom "Sports Night," brought national attention to the severity of strokes when he was stricken on the set of his TV show last year. His left hand and leg were affected, forcing him to walk with crutches. But the stroke didn't deter Guillaume from his passion of acting. He returned to the show a short while later with producers of the show writing in the story line his character having a stroke. He now walks with a cane and continues to act. More recently he made an appearance on the sitcom "Moesha."

LL Cool J, who recently celebrated 15 years as a rapper, knows about overcoming life's obstacles. When he was born, the nerves in his right arm were damaged, leaving it paralyzed. He wrote in his autobiography, I Make My Own Rules, that his mother used to dress him in a "onesie and pin my sleeve to the mattress, so whenever I tried to move, I would be forced to exercise my bad arm. After a few months, I waved my arm for the first time. And within a year it had gotten so strong it was almost perfect." Today he has full use of his right arm and draws attention to it by sporting one of his favorite tattoos--a microphone with a crown atop it.

Singer LV, who sang the chorus on Coolio's Grammy Award-winning hit song Gangsta's Paradise, also has triumphed over life's obstacles. He was shot in 1985 nine times after "being in the wrong place at the wrong time." The left side of his body was paralyzed, he could barely talk and he spent two years in a wheelchair. "The doctors told me I would never walk again and that they would have to cut off my left leg, but I refused the procedure. I knew that God had a different plan for me and I would not only walk again, but I would also sing again." LV's faith helped him to pull through. He has full use of his left side, is walking and singing. Just recently he dropped his second CD, How Long.