Superfit 45-year-old dad from Utah reveals the silent symptom that changed everything

Despite never having smoked and being in peak physical condition, 45-year-old Utah father Chad Dunbar was stunned to learn he had terminal lung cancer. A lifelong athlete, Chad had just completed a grueling 3,000-mile mountain biking journey in 2023 when he noticed pain and swelling in his calf. Thinking it was simply overuse, he got it checked—only to be told he had lung cancer.

“I was doing 3,000 miles on my mountain bike every season. My lungs were probably the healthiest piece of me,” Chad shared in a heartfelt video. The diagnosis was shocking: Stage 4 metastatic lung cancer caused by a rare RET gene mutation, not linked to smoking. The cancer had already spread to his brain, liver, bones, and lymph nodes.

Chad’s family was equally stunned. “He was a legit athlete,” his brother-in-law wrote. “He never smoked. He lived in clean-air states like Colorado and Utah.”

Initially, Chad responded well to aggressive targeted therapy and chemotherapy. By mid-2023, scans showed significant improvement. But in 2024, new mutations appeared. Doctors gave him just a 5% chance of surviving more than five years.

Still, Chad remains resilient. “Freaking 5% — I’ll take those odds,” he says, choosing to cherish every moment with his wife and sons. His story is a powerful reminder that lung cancer can strike even the healthiest among us — and early symptoms like limb pain should never be ignored.