This year I plan to complete an Olympic triathlon on July 29th for Childhood Cancer. I will also be running for individuals I know personally as well as anyone battling or has fought this horrible disease we know as cancer. An Olympic triathlon consists of an initial 1.5 km swim, followed by a 40 km bike, and to finish, a 10 km run. Many of the readers on this page will remember my purpose behind this event and will recognize that this will be my fourth year completing this fundraiser. For any new readers, I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with medulla blastoma, a form of brain cancer, in April of 2018 and underwent a craniotomy (a 12-hour surgery) to remove the tumor. I then had to have 30 doses of spinal and cranial radiation, followed by 40 doses of chemotherapy, 16 admissions to the hospital, 79 admitted hospital nights, 16 blood transfusions, and was unable to eat much of anything for 5 months resulting in needing a feeding tube to get my required nutrition. Through all of this I came to the realization of how horrible this disease is, especially for a child. With my runs I wish to show children with cancer that the disease cannot hold them back from accomplishing their dreams.
This disease created a terrible journey for not only my family and I, but my friends as well as my community. Unfortunately, this journey is well known by many individuals. Currently, in Canada, two in five people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer. Sadly, between my friends and family, I was not the only one to be diagnosed with cancer. My uncle, John Spence, unfortunately passed away three years ago with pancreatic cancer and a local friend of mine named Brad Bishop passed away two years ago with sarcoma. It's for these individuals and many others similar to them that I complete these fundraisers.
Last year when I decided to do another fundraiser, my uncle, Al Walker, had recently been diagnosed with stage four esophageal cancer and was undergoing treatment. I am saddened to say that this Christmas, my uncle passed away due to the side-effects induced upon him by chemo. Losing another uncle to this disease has strengthened my desire and determination in fundraising money to aid in the search of a cure to cancer.
I am four years cancer free as of July this year. I would like to say thank-you to everyone who has helped and continues to help me become who I am today. I gained different perspectives through various friends and family who have fought their courageous fights, and although not all are with us today, I couldn’t have done it without them. No words come to mind that could possibly justify how appreciative I am of everyone’s support, especially to all who took part in my previous fundraisers. Over the past two years I have raised a little over $76 500, and I would love to add another $23 500 to make a total of $100 000. Even if that goal is not reached, I will be grateful for however much I raise as I know every dollar helps towards finding a cure.
I have not stated my running route and times yet, but it will be posted shortly. Please stay tuned as I invite anyone willing to join in on the event to run, walk, and/or bike any distance you would like.
The money raised will help Canada’s brightest researchers make ground-breaking discoveries, provide paediatric cancer patients with much-needed support services, and ensure that other life-changing work is possible.
Make your donation online – it’s fast, secure and will reduce administrative costs so more of your support goes towards the fight against cancer.
Let's show this terrible disease who's boss!
Thank you!