( CNN ) -- At 32 years old Doug Ulman is president of cancer-support charity the Lance Armstrong Foundation . He has also survived three separate cases of cancer . In August 1996 , Ulman was a 19-year-old college soccer player when a CAT scan revealed a shadow behind his heart . Doctors said there was only a slim chance he had cancer , but he needed surgery . During the operation , Ulman had an allergic reaction to the morphine he was being given as a painkiller , meaning he had to finish the surgery without any pain relief . He made it through the surgery , but two weeks later Ulman was told he had chondrosarcoma -- a bone cancer that develops in cartilage . `` Doctors started talking about 'we need to go in and take out part of your spine , and you may never walk again ' -- things that were so drastic I could n't even comprehend , '' Ulman told CNN . `` I went into a state of anger -- I just did n't know what to make of all of it . To have everything taken from you from a control perspective , to be a the mercy of others and to have to learn something you do n't know anything about was really scary . '' Supported by his parents , both of whom are themselves cancer survivors , Ulman recovered fully from the chondrosarcoma , but a few months later a mole on his chest was diagnosed as melanoma . Incredibly , three months later , Ulman was told he had a second melanoma . `` When you 're 19 , to have it [ cancer ] once is abnormal , but to go through this period between my 19th and 20th birthdays -- it 's just not normal , '' he said . `` You 're supposed to be in college , you 're supposed to be out having fun . I 'm supposed to be playing soccer and doing things I love and this was just interrupting my life . It was changing the course that I had imagined and what everybody had hoped for . '' Ulman is now completely cancer free but knows he is at risk of having melanoma again . His physical recovery has been so complete that he has managed to run numerous marathons , including a 100-mile run in the Himalayas , but he is careful to schedule his training runs early in the morning to protect himself from the sun . Realizing there was a lack of support for young adults with cancer , Ulman and his family founded the Ulman Cancer fund for Young Adults , which provides education , support and resources to young adults with cancer and their families . The foundation caught the notice of seven-times Tour de France champion and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong and he enlisted Ulman to help run the Lance Armstrong Foundation . CNN 's Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta is also a board member of the foundation . Ulman says he now spends much of his time raising money and talking with cancer survivors and their families . `` It 's incredibly beneficial to help other people , '' Ulman told CNN . `` You help yourself and it also allows us to focus on other people 's experiences and try to help them as appose to dwelling on our own . `` I 'm grateful for that , I 've learned so much from so many people who have such a spirit and resiliency -- it 's inspiring . ''
David Ulman is president of the Lance Armstrong Foundation . Ulman had cancer three times between the ages of 19 and 20 . He has since run marathons , including a 100-mile run in the Himalayas . He went on to found the Ulman Scholarship fund for Young Americans .