John

For 30 years, John E. Banner worked as a flatbed trucker. Life on the road taught him to keep going, even when things got difficult.

In 2020, while returning from Florida, John began experiencing severe pain. Instead of stopping, he pushed through it for 72 hours before parking his semi and driving himself to the hospital.

There, he received devastating news: stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Doctors gave him four months to live. But John refused to give up.

His cancer journey included a failed surgery, seven months of chemotherapy, and a simple morning ritual that helped him keep going. He faced one of the hardest battles of his life and survived.

But beating cancer was not the end of his struggles. What came next would bring another difficult chapter.

After surviving cancer, John faced loneliness and struggled with alcohol addiction.

His life took a difficult turn. He experienced arrests and spent a year and a half in jail. After that, he began a seven-month journey across the South, traveling mostly barefoot with nothing but a pair of shorts.

John's journey eventually became a story of survival, change, and the possibility of starting over.

He went from jail to sobriety, and he chose January 5, 2025, as the beginning of his sober life.

He also made a short video sharing part of his journey.

Watch John's video: https://youtube.com/shorts/CZU7CskK8VY

John has been sober since January 5, 2025. He now lives at New Beginnings sober living in Wabash, Indiana, where he continues building his life in recovery.

He also wrote *Still Standing: A True Survival Story*, a book about his experiences as a trucker, his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, his struggles with addiction, and his journey toward a new beginning.

Through his story, John hopes to share his experiences with others and remind people that even after life's most difficult chapters, there can still be a way forward.

Watch John's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0fL9rdp6pU

Learn more about his book: https://still-standing-book.netlify.app