Courage Award honorees illustrate, through their personal efforts and actions, sarcoma advocacy. These individuals are patients, survivors, caregivers, and advocates who inspire others by using their platform on behalf of sarcoma patients and survivors to create hope and a better life/or the sarcoma community. Many do not think they have done something special but who have inspired others and are making a difference/or sarcoma patients and their families. The Courage Award honors patients who have demonstrated strength and perseverance in their sarcoma diagnosis.
Billy Brimblecom, Jr. discovered his love for the performing arts early in life. A professional drummer and an alum of Kansas City’s ComedySportz improv troupe, Billy studied music at The University of Kansas and has performed across prominent stages—from The Kennedy Center to London’s Wembley Arena—and appeared on screen via Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
In 2005, at the age of 28, Billy was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma in his left ankle. The aggressive cancer required 13 rounds of chemotherapy and the amputation of his left leg above the knee. As a lifelong musician, the loss of his leg could have been career-ending. Instead, it marked the beginning of a new chapter. Within months of his surgery, Billy was back on tour playing drums—refusing to let cancer or amputation define him.
In 2009, Billy and his wife, Allison, moved to Nashville, and in 2013, he became the Executive Director of Steps of Faith Foundation, a nonprofit that helps uninsured and underinsured amputees obtain prosthetic limbs. Three years later, Billy relocated both his family and the Foundation to Kansas City. In 2017, he created Thundergong!, a high-energy rock-and-roll variety show and benefit concert.
Since 2013, Billy has raised millions of dollars and helped nearly 2,000 amputees across the U.S. regain mobility with state-of-the-art prosthetics. Outside of his nonprofit work, he continues to perform music, often with his wife in their band, Summer Breeze.
Billy’s journey from diagnosis to helping restore amputees’ mobility with prosthetics through the Steps of Faith Foundation is an inspiration and provides hope to the thousands of people diagnosed with sarcoma each year.