Given just 3 months to live, PBA legend continues cancer battle 2 years on

When PBA legend Lim Eng Beng attended the awarding ceremonies for 15 additions to the league's list of 40 Greatest Players, he relished the chance to reunite with his former colleagues in basketball.

His eyes shone with laughter as he recalled how serious rivalries were during the old days, to the point that players considered themselves foes even outside the court. Some led to post-game skirmishes, he shared. Back then, opposing players refused to even talk to each other.

Getting feted in 2000 as the elite cagers of the PBA changed his perspective, as he found himself sharing memories with former rivals.

"We have to maximize the time and the opportunity to talk to each other, because we are not getting any younger," said Lim, who played for 12 seasons in the league.

But while Father Time had caught up with everyone, the Filipino-Chinese star is battling more than just aging.

Lim was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2013, and he admitted that it was hard to accept for him as someone who practices a healthy lifestyle.

"I couldn't take it because I have no vices, I exercise four to five times a week, I eat proper food," he said after the confetti had all fallen on the stage of Newport Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila. "My world turned 360 degrees."

Lim, who played for De La Salle University during his college days, described the ordeal as one of the darkest parts of his life.

"I don't know what to do with myself, I lost 30 pounds, I was trying to commit suicide. Everything is negative," he said.

With the help of his three children, however, he was able to muster the courage to fight and enjoy his life now that he is aware that his time may be near.

But despite his rekindled will to live, Lim said cancer treatment is also a kind suffering itself - the dreaded results of the quarterly CT scan, tension in the operating room, the wires connected to his body, the sting of injections - all in order to stop the deadly disease which has claimed many others before him.

"Every time I go into chemo, I'm like going to hell," he said. He has no idea how long he will endure the battle. It all depends on his "Vitamin C," as he calls his illness, which can shorten or prolong the shot clock on a whim before delivering the last shot, that final dagger, that would settle the game.

All that remains for him to do is to defend the basket until the very end. Attempting to steal the ball and gain possession is not an option - Lim is not willing to spend all his money just to defeat cancer, because he has already embraced the idea of dying sooner or later.

But perhaps, all is not yet lost for the combo guard who once led his underdog U/Tex squads to victory against Crispa and Toyota, the top two teams in the early years of the PBA. Maybe there is still a chance to pressure his foe with his defense, not allowing it to penetrate the lane or take a shot.

"Ang sabi ng doctor sa akin, 'Beng, you're still very lucky.' Kasi a person with a liver cancer will last only three months," he said. "I already survived two years." - JST, GMA News