Cancer patient ‘rings bell’ 40 years later

(ABC 6 News) – Friday, after 40 years of being cancer-free, a Green Bay man finally got to commemorate his recovery at Mayo Clinic.

Joel Everts received treatment for osteosarcoma as a child at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Unfortunately, Joel never had the opportunity to "ring the bell" to complete his cancer treatment. His retired Mayo doctor recently reached out to ask if Joel could do a ceremonial bell ringing to mark 40 years of being cancer free.

"For me, we’re kind of writing my own rules I guess for why I’m here and for why I’m ringing the bell so I was kind of thinking maybe I should have rang it at least five times one for each decade that I’ve lived through so the 80s the 90s, and five is my favorite number so I was thinking I should maybe ring it five times," Everts said.

Everts called it a surreal day. Members of his family and his former doctor were in attendance Friday. The bell ringing took place in the lobby of the Jacobson Building at Mayo Clinic.