Delhi cop Nidhin Valsan’s inspiring journey from arresting cancer to Ironman finish line

Kerala-born IPS officer Nidhin Valson's inspiring journey from cancer patient to Ironman and author, showcasing resilience, positivity, determination and hope.

When cancer becomes a reality, haunts you and puts a pause on your life, gnawing uncertainties and the inability to face the fear decimate you. But Kerala-born Nidhin Valsan, an IPS officer did not allow the disease to shadow his days.

A month before his 35th birthday in December 2020, when he was transferred to Goa, after his stints in Delhi and Lakshadweep, little did he know that the tourist’s paradise would become the bedrock of his physical pain and mental strength in the ensuing months.

“There were moments I thought I would never live again but the disease also taught me how much more I wanted to do in life,” says the 2012-batch officer.

In the intervening years he underwent nine rounds of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant, navigated anxiety and loneliness, caught Covid-19, competed in the Ironman Triathlon, and wrote his memoir Cancerman to Ironman: A Police Officer’s Journey of Arresting Illness, published by Pan Macmillan India this August.

“I am alive. I am revelling in the moment,” says Nidhin, who was posted as DCP(Outer North) in Delhi this September.

Determined to defeat the disease, he says, making it to the finishing line of one of the most demanding endurance challenges and chronicling his journey as a cancer patient are not personal achievements. “Cancer treatment changes your outlook on life. I began to focus on what I could do as an inspiration and hope for all those who are fighting their battles against the disease,” he says.

Whether Nidhin writes or talks about his tale of triumph, it strikes as raw, revealing and candid. Positivity, passion and prayers helped him reach this far, he underlines.