Solved Murders - True Crime Stories - Mike Oxlong’s Journey From Mechanic to Adventurer, Illness, and Family Legacy PART2 #35

Episode Date: August 23, 2025

#horrorstories #reddithorrorstories #ScaryStories #creepypasta #horrortales #adventurecontinues #familylegacy #illnessbattle #mechanictoadventurer #resiliencejourney  Mike Oxlong’s saga continues as he confronts the mounting challenges of illness while navigating the weight of his family’s legacy. Part 2 dives deeper into his struggles and triumphs, blending the grit of a mechanic with the heart of an adventurer. This part reveals the toll on his mind and body, and the strength needed to carry on the journey.  horrorstories, reddithorrorstories, scarystories, horrorstory, creepypasta, horrortales, adventure, illness, familylegacy, mechanic, resilience, personaljourney, survival, emotionalstruggle, inspiration, hardship, fighting spirit, healing, strength, darkjourney

There's so much rugby on Sports Extra from Sky. They've asked me to read the whole lad at the same speed I usually use for the legal bit at the end. Here goes. This winter Sports Extra is jam-packed with rugby. For the first time we've got every Champions Cup match exclusively live, plus action from the URC, the Challenge Cup, and much more. Thus the URC and all the best European rugby all in the same place.

Get more exclusively live tournaments than ever before on Sports Extra. Jampack with rugby. Phew, that is a lot of rugby. Get Sports Extra on Sky for 15 euro a month for 12 months. Search Sports Extra. New Sports Extra customers only. Standard Pressing applies after 12 months for the terms apply. Hopps and Wild?

Wild and Hopps. The dream team. They're back in Disney's Zootropolis, too. Funny, books. This is a make-or-break assignment. In Cinemas, November 28th. No snake has set foot in Zutropolis in forever. Don't miss the wildest adventure of the year.

There's a snake. I want the fox and that rabbit. All right, carrots. Any idea where you want to start. Disney Zootropolis 2 in cinemas, November 28. Good luck. I love you. Mike had always been the type of guy,

who grabbed life by the horns. You know the kind, big dreams, a goofy laugh that made everyone else laugh too, and an almost irritating habit of seeing the bright side no matter how bad things got. If Life threw him lemons, he didn't just make lemonade, he opened a lemonade stand and sold out in an hour. But even a guy like Mike wasn't ready for what Life had in store for him next. It started as a dull ache in his side. At first, he brushed it off.

Probably just a pulled muscle from working out, he told his girlfriend, Jenna, when she noticed him grimacing one night while trying to twist open a jar of pickles. Babe, you should get that checked out, Jenna said, her eyebrows knitting together. She had that worried look she got every time he pushed himself too hard, like the time he tried to run a marathon with zero training and spent three days limping around their apartment. But Mike just waved her off. It's nothing. I'll be fine. You're talking to the guy who survived eating a gas station burrito in Mexico, remember? Jenna rolled her eyes but didn't push it.

Mike had always been stubborn, and it was one of the things she both loved and hated about him. Weeks went by, and the pain didn't go away. If anything, it got worse. One night, while they were watching a movie on the couch, Mike doubled over suddenly, clutching his side. The color drained from Jenna's face. That's it. I'm taking you to the hospital, she said, already grabbing her keys. No, no, it's fine, Mike groaned, trying to stand up straight, but his legs felt like jelly.

Just give me a second, he didn't even finish the sentence before his knees buckled and he collapsed onto the carpet. The hospital visit turned into an overnight stay. The overnight stay turned into a week. blood tests, scans, and a biopsy later, the doctor came in with the kind of expression that made Jenna's stomach sink. Mike, I'm afraid it's cancer. The words hung in the air like a bad smell. Mike blinked. Cancer. Like, the zodiac sign, the doctor didn't smile. No, Mike. It's advanced. We found tumors in your pancreas and some spots in your liver. It's, aggressive. It's aggressive. Gena's hand shot out to grab Mike's, and he squeezed hers hard enough to hurt.

So, what's the plan? Surgery. Chemo. Hit me with whatever you've got, Doc. I've still got a lot of adventures planned, and cancer's not on the list. The doctor gave him a sad little smile. We'll do everything we can. Mike threw himself into treatment the same way he'd thrown himself into everything else in life,

with both feet and no hesitation. Chemo. Bring it on. Radiation. Let's go. Experimental drug trial. Why the hell not? At first, he seemed to handle it all like a champ. He shaved his head before the chemo could claim his hair, posting a goofy selfie with the caption, Bald as Beautiful, Baby. His friends flooded the comments with encouragement and bad bald jokes. But as the months dragged on, the treatments took their toll. Mike, who had once been the life of the party, started spending more and more time in bed. His skin grew pale, his frame thinner. Even his laugh, the laugh that could light up a room, grew quieter.

One night, after a particularly rough round of chemo, Jenna sat beside him on the couch. His head was resting in her lap, and she ran her fingers gently over the soft fuzz growing back on his scalp. Do you ever get scared, she asked softly. Mike opened one eye and looked up at her. All the time, he admitted. But then I remember, I've had a hell of a ride. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. As the weeks passed, the cancer spread faster than anyone expected.

Mike knew. He could feel his body betraying him little by little. But he didn't let it stop him from doing what he could with the time he had left. He called his parents and told them he loved them. He invited his buddies over for one last poker night, even though he couldn't stay awake past 9 p.m. He finished writing his book, his adventure memoir, as he called it, dictating the last chapters to Jenna when he was too weak to type. One afternoon, as he lay in bed watching the sunlight filter through the curtains, Mike turned to Jenna. Promise me something, anything, she whispered, brushing tears

from her cheeks. Promise me you'll live big. Do the things you're scared to do. Go see the world. Laugh till your stomach hurts. There's so much rugby on Sports Exter from Sky. They've asked me to read the whole lad at the same speed I usually use for the legal bit at the end.

Here goes. This winter sports extra is jam-packed with rugby. For the first time, we've been every Champions Cup match exclusively live, plus action from the URC, the Challenge Cup, and much more. Thus the URC and all the best European Rugby all in the same place. Get more exclusively live tournaments than ever before on Sports Extra.

with rugby. Phew, that is a lot of rugby. Get Sports Extra on Sky for 15 euro a month for 12 months. Search Sports Extra. New Sports Extra customers only. Standard Pressing applies after 12 months for the terms apply. Don't waste a single damn second. I promise, she said, her voice cracking. When Mike passed away, it felt like the world dimmed a little. Jenna felt like she was walking through a fog for weeks afterward. But then something amazing happened. Mike's book hit the shelves and took off like wildfire. People connected to his story, the crazy adventures, the near-death experiences that he'd somehow turned into hilarious anecdotes, and his raw, unfiltered honesty about what it meant to really live. Letters and emails poured in from readers

all over the world. I was ready to give up on my dream of starting a bakery, but then I read Mike's book. Now I'm opening next month. Mike's words pulled me out of the darkest place in my life. I'll never forget him. Thanks to Mike, I booked a solo trip to Thailand. Best decision ever. Mike's friends and family were stunned. In life, he'd touched the people closest to him. In death, he was inspiring strangers he'd never even met. Years later, Jenna stood at the edge of a cliff in New Zealand, the wind whipping her hair around her face. She was about to go skydiving for the first time. This one's for you, Mike, she's. She whispered, a smile tugging at her lips.

And as she jumped, she swore she could hear his laugh in the wind, loud, free, and full of life. Mike's story wasn't over. Not really. He had left a mark so deep that it rippled out into the world, touching lives and inspiring adventures he'd never get to see. Because that's the thing about people like Mike, even when they're gone, they're never really gone. To be continued.