I ride for my dad.

I’ll never forget the moment my father told me he had been diagnosed with Colon Cancer. I remember exactly where I was, the smell of the room, and how I felt in that moment. He was diagnosed in March of 2013. My dad, my rock, my best friend had cancer.

They had found a tumor the size of a softball, but he was ready to fight. We scheduled the surgery and talked over the additional treatment options. After many rounds of chemotherapy, complications, and hospitalizations my father was in remission!

In the fall of 2014, my fathers markers started to skyrocket. In early December, his surgeon scheduled a procedure and looked into his stomach with a camera- to find that his stomach was riddled with hundreds of tiny cancerous tumors. He decided on more chemotherapy. He kept fighting. All he wanted was a cure. I had recently became engaged and he was hell bent on walking me down the aisle. He walked me down the aisle, and danced with me at my wedding in the spring of 2015. I will cherish those moments forever. It was a long year. There were more complications and hospitalizations.

Eventually his doctor told him that he was no longer a candidate for cancer treatment. His cancer was progressing, and his body was in such a frail state that they would not continue treatment. I will never forget the moment he heard that news… he didn’t want to accept it. He wanted to keep fighting, he wanted his cure. He passed away in his sleep not even 2 weeks later in September of 2015.

I ride for my dad, my rock, my best friend David Lee Johnson Sr.

Thank you for fighting to stay here with us.
I love you, and there are absolutely no words to describe how much I miss you.

This March, I’ll be turning up the heat and challenging myself at Buffalo’s coldest cycling event of the season — all to raise critically needed funds for Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

One in three Americans will develop cancer in their lifetime. Will you join me in making a difference by donating to my IceCycle fundraiser?