June 21 full document

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MERRITT COUNTRY RUN COMPLETE RESULTS /PAGE 9

MOBILE MEDICAL CLASSROOM IN MERRITT /PAGE 5 merrittherald.com

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MERRITT HERALD FREE

TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2016 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS

Survivors ride together Michael Potestio THE MERRITT HERALD

Jenny Amstutz and her daughter Aurora were in the Merritt area camping for Father’s Day this weekend when they decided to cheer on their friend and cancer survivor Matthew Acheson who rode in the Ride 2 Survive cycling fundraiser that stopped in Merritt.

Larry Hooge keeps the memory of friends and family he’s lost to cancer close to him. The four-time Ride 2 Survive participant has photographs of people who’ve had the disease attached to his bike to give him strength on the 388 kilometre ride when the going gets tough. “This is who I’m doing the ride for. These are the friends and family of my sponsors, my friends and family who have suffered from cancer,” he told the Herald. “Several of them have passed away.” Hooge, 56, from Abbotsford has had many close friends die from cancer recently, and said it’s important to him to find a way to fight back. Ride 2 Survive is the Canadian Cancer Society’s largest independent fundraising event. Every year the caravan of cyclists make their way from Kelowna to Delta with a pit stop in Merritt. Cyclists gathered at the visitor centre at the intersection of Highway 97C and Highway 5 where they were met by many cheering them on. Like Hooge, many of the participants carry symbols of their loved ones who have been afflicted by cancer. “If you look around you’ll notice a lot of the others have got names written on their legs,” Hooge said. “Everybody here’s riding for somebody.” Shannon Hooper from Squamish is one of those riders. Written on her legs in purple and green are the names of those she’s lost to cancer, and some words of encouragement. Matthew Acheson from Port Coquitlam is one of Saturday’s participants who know first hand what it’s like to battle cancer. The 49-year-old had testicular cancer when he was in his 20s, which he said was at a time when a cancer diagnosis didn’t seem to come with much hope of survival. “The people that I knew that had cancer, it looked like they got cancer, they got treatment, and a few years later they died a horrible death,” Acheson said. He said even after his cancer treatment, he was convinced that this would be his fate too. “In my 30s I was a mess,” he said adding that some of his friends helped him get back on his feet. “[They] told me to pay back the world for saving my miserable hide,” he said with a laugh. This led to Acheson participating in The Ride to Conquer Cancer and then Ride 2 Survive.

See ‘RIDING’ Page 3

Michael Potestio/Herald

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June 21 full document by Merritt Herald - Issuu