Growing up as a child, I was fortunate enough to never really know anyone affected by cancer. I would participate in American Cancer Society events and I would see all the names of people who had battled or were battling cancer, but I never had any personal relation to any of them. This all changed when my Dad was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma in the summer of 2016.
During the next two years, the only certainty was that nothing was certain. Soon after treatment, his Carcinoma was gone. However, with that diagnosis only came a new one. This time it was Melanoma. In February of 2017, his left leg was amputated because of it. After a hard-fought battle with the greatest doctors and nurses on his side, my dad passed away on June 26th, 2018.
Throughout his cancer treatment, he never once complained. He was always the strongest in the room. My Dad and our family spent days upon days at Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. There was not a day that went by that he didn’t have something great to say about the staff. From his “wicked smaht” doctors and caring nurses to the valet parking attendant who always “took care of him”, he was grateful for each and every staff member working to heal him.
This is my thank you. I ride to thank every doctor, nurse, chef, security guard, parking attendant and volunteer who treated my Dad like their own. I ride in memory of my Dad so that one day cancer will no longer exist. I ride for countless friends who have been touched by cancer. I ride for our pediatric pedal partner, Z, who has had a reoccurence of his leukemia in 2021 - and is making monthy trips depite COVID for treatment into Dana Farber with some hospital stays. It is such a bummer to be back for him and his family but Team FLAMES is there to help. You can too.
With the generous donations made by you, researchers and physicians at Dana Farber Cancer Institute are able to develop life saving treatments for all types of cancer and cancer patients, many of whom participate in clinical trials conducted right here in Boston. Many treatments that are now used as standard of care therapies nationally and internationally have been established by physcians and researchers at DFCI.
I wish I didn't have a reason to ride the PMC. I wish NO ONE had a reason to ride because that would mean cancer didn't exist. So until there is a day that people do not have to worry about losing a loved one because of cancer, we will ride. 100% of rider-raised proceeds go directly to support Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's tireless commitment to finding a cure. With your generous donation, you can help play a part in finding a cure.
Why I PMC: https://www.pmc.org/blog/why-i-pmc-meagan-riley
PMC 2019 Recap Video: https://vimeo.com/352763061
PMC - Where your money goes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N4jmsQ7Qc
