By HALEY YAMADA and ERIC NOLL, ABC News(NEW YORK) — One veteran is truly showing what it means to be “Army Strong.”When former Army Sgt. Nathan Tirey found out that he had blood cancer in 2019, he was determined to fight the illness alongside his fellow Americans battling the same disease.Tirey decided to complete one push-up for each American diagnosed with blood cancer annually. This October, Tirey completed his 176,200th push-up.Tirey documented the personal challenge on his YouTube channel, Pushing Through Cancer, which he used to raise awareness about his mission and those affected by blood cancer.Even on the days he received treatment, Tirey would average around 484 push-ups a day.“I’m in treatment right now, so I’m doing it while I’m getting treated,” Tirey shared on YouTube.Tiery’s children, Nathan Tirey Jr. and Victoria Tirey, joined him on his last day of push-ups nearly a year after he was diagnosed.After the final push, his wife, Megan Tirey, gave him a kiss. Nathan Tirey was overcome with gratitude for all of the support.“Dealing with the treatment and everything this year… This helped me [with] mentally being able to withstand that,” Tirey said in a YouTube video.Tirey told ABC News’ World News Tonight on Wednesday that fighting through hard times is what brings Americans together.“It’s always a grind to go through hard times and I want America to remember that we all have hard times. That’s something that bonds us together,” Tirey said. “We all go through hardships and hard times, but we can get through it if we just push through and put one foot in front of the other.”
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