Style, charity, call them what you want, but the Lance Armstrong wristbands are a world conquering innovation, copied by many other charities, the "Livestrong" bands are the original, seen on all the stars wrist and on millions of others
At the Tour de France in 2004 yellow wristbands started to appear on the riders, at first no one knew what they were all about. It was then revealed that these were LIVESTRONG wristbands and are part of the Lance Armstrong fund, which is for cancer relief and was set up by champion cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong.
Millions All Over The World
Approximately 55 million people around the world wear a LIVESTRONG wristband, each one cost $1 and the money raised goes towards the work that LAF (Lance Armstrong Fund) carry out. The charity is based in Austin, Texas and was founded in 1997 by Lance, his courage and sporting prowess inspires and empowers people with cancer to battle on against the disease.
How It All Started
Lance Armstrong was 25 years old when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, if caught early he would have been given a 90% chance of survival, but because he ignored the symptoms the cancer spread to other parts of his body and his survival was not given much chance. Lance fought the cancer and survived, he then went on to win the hardest bike race in the world, the Tour de France seven times and set up the LAF to help other cancer sufferers.
This is what you receive
The Bands
The wristbands themselves are made of a rubbery material (synthetic silicone) and has "LIVESTRONG" embossed into the material. Nike had them made and sold them through their outlets, but many people bought them from the LAF web site. The sad thing for the charity is that the wristbands became so popular that there wasn't enough of them to meet the demand and people were selling them on e-bay at much higher prices and then of course the bands were being forged and so the charity made nothing.
Copied By Many
The wristbands were such a success that many other charities have done there own versions, pink, black, white, red, blue, green and two different twisted together colours have been seen, but none as popular as the LIVESTRONG presidents, sportsmen, actors and many famous people have been spotted wearing them, they are an unbelievable success!
