A Study of Boundaries in Medical Humanities and Sports Narratives: Critical Approach to It's not about the Bike and The Test of my Life

This essay examines the traumatic accounts of two sportsmen from their autopathographies, namely, Lance Armstrong and Yuvraj Singh while establishing a connection between the border zones of Medical Humanities and sports narratives. The proposed study first traces the pain and trauma of both the cancer patients by checking the speed of time before, during and after their suffering through the texts It’s Not About the Bike and The Test of my Life. It then explores the patient’s involvement as part of medical care/health care in the chains of suffering and treatment process. Finally, it establishes the schema of realizing things that are larger than life during their post-suffering experiences. Following the insights of Mikhail Bakhtin, Roland Barthes and Yrjö Engerström, this paper argues that the speed of time slows down for the patient during the painful cycles of chemotherapy. This experience influences the patient’s glossary of clinical words with the adaptation of the “knotworking” approach. It facilitates a well-defined conversation about both cancer and sports communities being acquainted with medical terms and terminology because they are both aware of such prescribed clinical scripts. Finally, the paper concludes with the usage of resilience as a way to come out victorious, defeating intense suffering with a positive note of recovery.