cycling Archives – Page 2 of 2

2019 Ride to Conquer Cancer

What a glorious Ride to Conquer Cancer weekend! 4,573 participants raised over $19.2 million for cancer research. Our 60-person Heme Team raised $212,327 to support blood cancer research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Over 2 days, I cycled 221 km. It was my ninth ride and 80 donors helped me raise $13,231. However, the numbers don’t tell the whole story. The Ride is an emotional rollercoaster, starting and finishing both days with exuberance. Spirits are high at pit stops along the way as riders consume thousands of bananas, oranges, brownies, and water while waiting for port-a-potties. But it’s [...]

Toronto Star personal essay

After cancer the fear never leaves you, but she’s fighting back In 1988, I celebrated my thirty-first birthday in a hospital bed, convinced it would be my last. Days earlier, I’d woken from a coma after two grand mal seizures—caused by three months of chemotherapy for the rare leukemia that had overtaken my body. Doctors used the word “grim.” My father bought me a cemetery plot. One month later in May, I received an experimental bone marrow transplant at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto—a long shot with less than an eight per cent chance of success. On that day, [...]