On June 24th, I'll be participating in the 2023 Ride for Roswell, biking 44 miles through Canada and back to the University of Buffalo's campus. This will be my first time participating in the Ride for Roswell, but it will certainly not be my last.
For better or worse, Roswell Park Cancer Institute has been a fixture in our family's life for as long as I can remember. When I was 12, Roswell Park helped save my mom's life by providing her with a stem cell transplant, a cutting edge procedure at the time, as a last ditch effort to treat her rare form of breast cancer.
Filled with gratitude for the exceptional care she received during her grueling chemo, radiation, and stem cell treatments, my mom left her job as a speech pathologist and went to work for Roswell in a program aimed at reaching women early who were genetically predisposed to breast cancer.
As many of you know, just over twenty years later, Roswell Park is once again working to save my mom's life. After a year and a half of grueling chemo treatments, an aggressive bone marrow transplant, countless infections leading to extended hospital stays, and now, a related lung cancer diagnosis, normal life often feels like a distant memory. But through it all, Roswell Park has been a constant comforting presence, right down to the doctor leading her treatment team (the same wonderful man who treated her 20 years ago).
Money donated to Cancer research makes a real impact in all of our lives, as we've all been touched in some way by this horrific disease. As someone who is watching a family member receive trial treatments for a second time in my life, I can promise you the impact of every dollar is real and measurable.
Whether you love my mom, you hate cancer, or you just want to see if my back can survive a 44-mile bike ride (or all of the above), please consider joining me in raising money for this amazing organization. For every dollar donated, Roswell Park can leverage an additional $23 in new grant funding.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you and FUCK CANCER!
Brad
