Why I ride …
Today’s my dad’s birthday. He should be 66 today. This date that should be celebrated is, since 2022, filled with trauma and grief.
Two years ago I tried to sleep overnight in the ICU, listening to every beep and boop from machines. Less than 24 hours before, my dad and I had been chatting about work stuff and watching Thunder Over Louisville coverage on the hospital TV. Now he was barely alive. Every inhale and exhale from my dad destroyed any hope of rest as I hoped he would wake up. I smelled of stress sweat, bottled up tears, anxiety, and fear. It was my dad’s 64th birthday and all I wanted was for him not to die on that day. For four years he had fought as cancer wrecked his body, retreated, then came back in spots unexpected. He knew this was his last hurrah. I remained hopeful — my hero can’t be defeated. He’d beat it before, he could do it again.
When he finally woke up, he looked at me, down at the ileostomy bag, and muttered, “god damn it.” He hated that bag and everything it represented. He hated the cancer that created that bag. The cancer and its treatments made him weak — he hated that the most.
My whole life my dad was my protector. Now it was my turn and I wanted to protect him. I wanted to save him and make him healthy again. But nothing I could do would help. At that moment on my dad’s 64th birthday, almost four years after his initial diagnosis, I realized that nothing I could do would save him.
Only science could do that. After all, science had saved my mom from cancer — twice over. I needed science to save my dad.
That is my motivation to fundraise and ride: science and its hope to prevent anyone from experiencing the heartbreak I’ve felt.
I can’t bring my dad back, but I hope that one day this science can save someone else’s dad or mom.
I ride because I believe in science. It saved my mom twice from cancer. And it gave us more time with my dad.
And because I live a cross-border life, I’ve decided this year to fundraise and ride in both the U.S. and Canada and help science find a cure. On the U.S. side, I’m raising funds for Pelotonia, which supports cancer research and programs at Ohio State University. On the Canadian side, I’m raising funds for Tour Alberta for Cancer, which supports world leading research at universities throughout Alberta.
Whichever side of the border you’re on, there’s science happening there. And it needs your support.
Donate today:
🇨🇦 In Canada, you can donate to: https://support.touralbertaforcancer.ca/caro
🇺🇸 In the U.S., you can donate to: https://www.pelotonia.org/caro
