This will be my second year riding in the Pan Mass Challenge as a member of Team Boston Fire. I will be riding in honor of Ava and Kristen.

Here are their stories:

Ava is the daughter of my friend and coworker Daniel Considine. She's the epitome of a beautiful, energetic, disney-loving, three and a half year old. However, at a routine physical in Novemeber 2017, her doctor felt a lump in her belly and immediately scheduled an MRI. The results of the MRI and further testing diagnosed Ava with Neuroblastoma. With fewer than 20,000 cases per year, Neuroblastoma is a rare type of cancer that typically developes while a child is in utero. It's often found in the small glands on top of the kidneys and in Ava's case, developed in her stomach. After two rounds of chemotherapy at Mass General Hospital, Ava went into surgery at Boston's Children's Hospital to remove the tumor and she is currently in remission and doing great! This past summer we spent the day with Ava and her family and it was excellent seeing her laughing, playing, and acting like any other 3 year old girl. I'm so happy for Ava, her family, and I'm honored to ride for her again this year. She's in my thoughts, and I'm wishing her the best moving forward. For more information on Neuroblastoma please visit Click Here

Kristen is my wife's former coworker at city year, turned our very close friend. She's an all-around awesome human being that's witty, fun-loving, beautiful, and selfless. In 2017, at the age of 35, she found a lump in one of her breasts while doing a self examination. In July she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer (invasive carcinoma). Kristen immediately began treatment at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and has completed a clinical trial and most recently underwent a double mastectomy. Although she still has treatments in her future, Kristen just received fabulous news that her most recent testing showed no signs of cancer in her lymph nodes. As of April 2018, after the completion of surgery and chemo, Kristen is Cancer Free!! I couldn't be more proud of her and I admire her strength and her positive mental attitude that carried throughout this whole diganosis. She truly Kicked Cancers Ass!! I am honored to ride for her again this year. If you'd like to learn more about Kristen's Story, please Click Here

Riding for Team Boston Fire for the second year is an honor. It was a dream of mine to become a Boston Firefighter and I'm forever greatful for the opportunity. I thought I new all the risks of the job when I signed up, but what I did not know was that Cancer has been the silent killer of firefighters for years. Firefighters face two times the cancer risk of civilians and 67% of Boston Firefighters will face a cancer diagnosis. While the BFD has given us the proper equipemt, training, and know how to lessen our chances of being exposed, I'm riding for those effected by cancer and to help to raise money in hopes that one day there will be a cure for this horrible disease. For more information on the Boston Fire Departments cancer Initative please Click Here

Thank You!!