August 19, 2015

, 2015 | ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES

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r Island draws near. e officers and media w that in riding they are hose who have fought a h childhood cancer. But the ible children, a bright spot s. a forest-ringed lake in the

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ick Mandryk, one of eam, was thrilled at the earlier this year. Nick n all stages of their cancer was blown away by the ) as an essential thing that eel normal,” says Nick. ave gone through, this

hildren are all different, riders was evident. ame out and freaked says. “[They] all loved ven more of a reason to

Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock TourdeRock.ca Sept 19 – Oct 2, 2015

than an experience. Camp perspective.

D SPONSORS

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ct: Rock Coordinator | 250.592.2244

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5 team at TourdeRock.ca @TourdeRock and mention #forthekids

Why we ride…

ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

What is the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock?

T

he simplest answer is that it’s a two-week bicycle journey in which a team of police officers ride more than 1,000 kilometres from the north end of Vancouver Island to the south, raising money to fight childhood cancer.

Since 1998, Tour de Rock has raised more than $20 million for the Canadian Cancer Society, which uses the money to fund pediatric cancer research and programs.

The story goes back to 1994, when a group of Edmonton police officers shaved their heads in support of a boy who had lost his hair to chemotherapy. By 1997, the Cops for Cancer head shaves had reached Victoria.

The local police wanted to try something bigger. A brainstorming session between the cops and the Canadian Cancer Society led to the suggestion of a bike ride the length of the Island. And the rest is history.

A new team is picked every year. This year’s team is made up of 20 police officers and one member of the media. The sacrifices demanded of the riders and their families over the seven months of their Tour experience – three days a week of training and fundraising on top of that – cannot be stressed enough. What is harder to prepare for is the emotional side of the journey. The riders are paired with junior team members, children with a history of cancer. Some of these children continue to deal with the oftendebilitating effects of cancer treatment even while participating in Tour events. Their stories are both troubling and inspiring for the riders.

The good news for these children and their families is that we are heading in the right direction. Childhood cancer survival rates are rising (since Tour de Rock’s inception the five-year survival rate has increased 11% to 83%), and treatments are less invasive and have fewer side effects now. There is a direct link between these advances and the efforts of the people of Vancouver Island who, since 1998, have embraced this cause as their own.

Y

ou don’t have to discover what m de Rock team to kilometres.

Taped to the handleba etched into each rider’s m faces of the brave memb Rider team. Each one is a of cancer – some are cur disease, some are in rem unfortunately recently lo each one is a reminder t anywhere near complete Rene Soto-Taylor and Junior Riders who fall int Both young boys – Rene age 7 – lost their fights t Both Rene and Lucas w active members of the Ju spending time on Tour riding in the police cars.

“He loved the attention that was given to him by the police officers, his riders. We think that he knew he was playing a role in the fight against cancer,” Julia Taylor says the same time, he really these relationships and t that he got from the offi That enjoyment is cert street. In the Tour de Roc Lucas are both remembe and energetic personaliti with the smile that could Lucas for his loving spirit sense of humour.

Dr. Sheila Pritchard ha oncologist at BC Children decades. She has seen fi

TOUR DE ROCK

Junior Riders: Our Heroes

YOUNG CANCER FIGHTERS MOTIVATE TEAM ON 1,000-KM RIDE

o search hard to motivates the Tour o pedal 1000-plus

ars of their bikes or mind you’ll find the bers of the Junior a child with a history rrently fighting the mission, and some have ost their battle – and that our work isn’t e.

Lucas Wetklo are two to the last category. at age 9, and Lucas at this year. were well-loved and unior team. They loved

“

members of our Junior Rider team – go through this painful cancer battle.

“It’s tough. You get to know them very well.

It’s not the sort of specialty you can cut yourself off emotionally,” she says. “You have to be with this young patient and their family on this whole journey. We’re all in it together.”

Because of her experience as a pediatric oncologist, Pritchard has also seen how cancer treatments have improved since her work began. There are new and better chemotherapy drugs; surgical methods for removing certain cancers have improved; lab tests identifying cancers are quicker and more accurate; supportive care for dealing with the cancer is better. Also on the rise is awareness of childhood cancers.

“It’s still not as good as I would like it to be.

Certainly we see a lot less very late diagnoses now. Doctors and healthcare professionals think about childhood cancer earlier,” Pritchard says.

For a parent like Julia Taylor, who witnessed her little boy fight a painful neuroblastoma three times in a span of five years, pediatric cancer treatments are certainly not as good as she would like them to be.

“Once you start talking about childhood cancer, neuroblastoma stops being rare. Kids are dying from neuroblastoma, kids are dying from so many other types of cancer. There is so much more that needs to be done,” she says.

Until there’s no need for Junior Riders – when all pediatric cancers can be cured painlessly and without side effects – and the Tour de Rock’s work is done, only then will we stop pedalling.

He loved the attention that was given to him by the police officers, his riders. ”

of her son Rene. “At y enjoyed building the encouragement ficers.” tainly a two-way ck family, Rene and ered for their positive ties; Rene as the boy d light up a room, and t and wonderfully big

as been a pediatric n’s Hospital for three firsthand children –

Events Calendar UPCOMING TOUR DE ROCK FUNDRAISING EVENTS SOUTH ISLAND Good Times Dance in Sooke Friday, August 28 • 7:30 p.m. – 1 a.m.

Dance the night away while enjoying the music of Phoenix.

Tickets, $10 at Shoppers Drug Mart and Peoples Drug Store in Sooke. For more info tour.de.rock.michael@hotmail.com or call 250-886-2125.

Tour de Rock Fishing Derby at Pedder Bay Marina Sunday, August 30 Prizes for largest fish & mystery weight! $50/rod (includes BBQ). Launch fee by donation. Rental boats & equipment available. Join us for just the BBQ for $15! Info & tickets: nbrame@shaw.ca or 250-920-6450.

Tour de Rock Red Serge Dinner in Shawnigan Wednesday, September 16 • Cocktails at 6pm, Dinner at 7pm Join us at Shawnigan Lake School for a spaghetti dinner and silent auction hosted by the students and local RCMP! Tickets are $10. To reserve your tickets call 250-746-2315 or email rlwebb@telus.net.

MID ISLAND Loggers Sports for Tour de Rock Sunday, September 6 • 4 p.m.

Come out for the Ladysmith Loggers Sports at the Transfer Beach amphitheatre. Bring your own lawn chair, blanket or stool. Admission is by donation.

Nanaimo Red Serge Tour de Rock Dinner Sunday, September 27 • 5 p.m.

Enjoy an amazing dinner, auctions, and raffle with the Tour de Rock team. Tickets are $60 at Country Club Centre Lotto Booth, Coast Capital Savings or by emailing tberg@bc.cancer.ca.

NORTH ISLAND 6th Annual Sayward Fishing Derby Saturday, August 22 & Sunday, August 23 Test your lines in the Johnstone Strait and see who can pull in the biggest catch. Info: Sandy Sanderson at s.sanders@telus. net.

Cups for Cancer Barrel Race at Comox Valley Fair Grounds August 29 - August 30 at 10 a.m.

Riders of all ages and skill levels can compete for a great cause.

For more info or to pre-register: Kandi Woods at 250.923.3941.

Pirates of the Caribbean II at the Best Western – The Westerly Hotel & Convention Centre Wednesday, September 23 • 6 p.m.

Meet the Tour de Rock riders at this pirate-themed 6 course dinner with live band. Tickets, $60, at Best Westerly, Boston Pizza and RCMP office. For more info, contact Lisa at 250-218-7158.

For a complete listing of all upcoming Tour de Rock fundraising events visit TourdeRock.ca

TOUR DE ROCK

WEDNESDAY,AUGUST 19,

Camp Goodtime safety and

KIDS AND FAMILIES TO CANCER GET AN UNFO SUMMER EXPERIENCE

Life after cancer doesn’t mean ‘all better’ CHILDREN CAN FACE CHALLENGES OF TREATMENT SIDE EFFECTS WHILE IN REMISSION

I

t has been 10 years since Emma Irwin found out her 10-week-old daughter Daisy had not one, but two forms of leukemia. Emma, her husband Patrick and their older daughter Molly rallied around Daisy.

“We watched this smallest and sweetest of humans endure the fiercest and cruelest of battles between doctors and disease,” says Emma.

Statistically, oncologists and cancer fundraising organizations often say 80 per cent of children’s cancers are curable. But those stats only mean a child has survived five years after being diagnosed. Survival doesn’t always equate with being healthy, either.

“What people don’t understand,” says Emma, “is a cure doesn’t mean all better.

Right now, cancer treatment is not a cure, it’s a trade-off.”

Daisy is now 10 years old, but life after chemotherapy hasn’t been easy for the little girl.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada says damage to the brain is common after chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants. Learning, memory and focusing issues can occur, as can other side effects such as missing teeth, alopecia, growth issues, seizures and secondary cancers.

“Daisy is in psychiatric care for symptoms similar to post traumatic stress disorder,” says Emma. “She was just a baby, but she remembers.”

Emma not only wants society to change the way we look at survivors, but also the way we treat them.

“Right now there is no support for survivors.

There’s a real gap in our education system, not only for schools, but for parents, too.”

Emma would like to see some kind of a how-to guide for parents of childhood cancer survivors; a roadmap to help families navigate all of the bumps they will face as their children become adults.

“When Daisy was diagnosed I searched and searched for other families with babies fighting cancer; someone to connect with,” she says.

Emma now has a Facebook group with nearly 300 members. They represent families stricken with the extremely rare diagnosis of infant leukemia. “We are not seeing 80-percent cure rates, not even close. We lose a lot of babies. Among those who survive the fiveyear mark, many are far from cured.”

As a parent of a childhood cancer survivor, Emma also wants the messaging around cancer fundraising to change. “Eighty per cent [cure rates are] a myth leading to reduced funding and complacency that children’s cancer is nearly cured, and worse, that cures mean all better. Until the cures stop being traumatic and poisonous and the creator of a new disease, there is no cure.”

Ten-year-old Daisy Irwin is a member of the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock Junior Rider team.

A

s the Canadian Cancer Society Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock revs up for another year, the riders, communities and Junior Riders are all getting excited.

The long days, weeks and months of training are coming to a head as the Sept. 19 launch of the twoweek bicycle journey down Vancouver While the cycling is hard, the police member who comprise the team know supporting, cheering and embracing th much tougher journey in dealing with riders also know that for these incredi along this journey is Camp Goodtimes Camp Goodtimes, nestled beside a Fraser Valley, is described as an “unforgettable, empowering experience “I see for children with cancer.”

According to riders and essen campers, it’s so much these more.

Desiree Young, a avenu longtime Tour de Rock Given Junior Rider, is a 14-yearold who beat acute their lymphoblastic leukemia.

She has been going to throu Camp Goodtimes for is inv eight years. To her, it’s a “safe, accepting place,” somewhere to escape and have fun. N and their siblings get to enjoy all sorts safe and welcoming environment, but connect and talk about their family’s jo Desiree, whose nervousness about disappeared as soon as she saw the fr to greet her, says it’s vitally important visit and see the power of Camp Good those riders are working towards as th the hills of Vancouver Island.

Saanich Police Reserve Sergeant Ni the riders on the 2015 Tour de Rock te opportunity to visit Camp Goodtimes e initially prepared himself to see kids in battle, but when he got to camp he w energy he encountered. “I see (Camp) these kids need. It’s their avenue to fe “Given what they and their families ha week is invaluable.”

Although the journeys for these ch their enthusiasm for the Tour de Rock “I was blindsided when the kids ca out, elated that we were there,” Nick and embraced us and it’s given me ev ride.”

Camp Goodtimes is so much more is acceptance. Camp is hope. Camp is p

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