Why I Ride ...
I am proud and grateful to be a member of Team Boston Fire as we work to fight the scourge of cancer. Having watched friends, family, and community members fight their battles with this awful disease, it?s tough to stand on the sidelines and not jump in to try and do some small part. Aside from the scores of job-related cancers affecting my fellow Brothers and Sisters on the BFD and across the fire service, I take a level of special motivation from my dear aunt Maureen (Fitzpatrick) Dimarzio. She fought her battle in silence for years unbeknownst to the outside world. She didn?t want to be viewed differently or given pity, she wanted to just enjoy as normal a life as possible with all she cared for and loved. She fought with an unmatched level of tenacity and an intensity I can only hope to have if faced with any challenges. Her subtle suffering under the radar is why it became such a body-rattling surprise when she was finally taken for us. At the foundation of ?why I ride? is my Aunt Maureen and her legacy of fighting the good fight. I aspire to take on this endeavor with her energy so that she lives on and her fight benefits those who follow her in this battle. For Aunt Maureen?
Team Boston Fire, a collection of military veterans, athletes and cancer survivors will be riding in the 2022 Pan-Mass Challenge. Our team, comprised predominantly of Boston firefighters, will cycle nearly 200 miles on August 6th & 7th to do our part in the fight against cancer. Every 3 weeks a Boston firefighter is diagnosed with cancer. This is an alarming statistic that equates to 67% of Boston firefighters facing a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime! In Boston specifically, between 2012 and 2017, 27 Boston Firefighters under the age of 70 died from cancer. During that same time, 12 firefighters died of cancer within 5 years of retirement and 6 active firefighters died from cancer. Boston firefighters are an especially at-risk population ? more than twice as likely to receive a cancer diagnosis than civilian populations ? with over 200 total Boston firefighters succumbing to their battle with occupational cancer since 1990. Team Boston Fire will ride for our 6th straight year to support our brothers and sisters who have been affected in some way by this destructive disease, and work to put it to an end once and for all. The Pan-Mass Challenge is a Massachusetts-based bike-a-thon that raises more money for charity than any other single athletic fundraising event in the country. The PMC raises funds for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a world leader in adult and pediatric cancer treatment and research. 100 percent of all rider-raised funds go directly to cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund. Since 1980, the PMC has raised $831 million for Dana-Farber.?
**NO ONE FIGHTS ALONE**
