A Squamish police officer has set out to be among a peloton of cyclists fighting cancer.
RCMP Cst. Nathalie Dimytruk is gearing up for the start of the Cops For Cancer cycling tour. This month, 107 police officers and emergency personnel will pedal thousands of kilometres to help the Canadian Cancer Society fight children’s cancers.
The tour is broken up into four areas – Vancouver Island, northern B.C., Tsawwassen to Boston Bar and Powell River to Pemberton and Greater Vancouver – visiting businesses and schools to raise awareness and money along the way.
Funds are put toward leading edge pediatric cancer research and caring support programs, like Camp Goodtimes, operated by the cancer society.
“All Cops for Cancer riders take part in rigorous training – they need to learn how to pace themselves and ride in a peloton,” said Christy Sampson, the cancer society’s B.C. and Yukon’s division’s director of community giving. “But what they can never prepare for is the emotional impact of seeing a child with cancer and the toll it takes on their entire family.”
Since 1997, Cops For Cancer in B.C. has raised more than $32 million for the cancer society’s childhood cancer research and support programs. The Greater Vancouver route – or Tour de Coast – takes place between Sept. 17 and 25.
For more than 15 years, communities throughout the Lower Mainland and the Sea to Sky Corridor have welcomed the tour, Tour de Coast team captain Cst. Dayne Campbell said.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling when you see the lengths people go to, welcoming and supporting the riders, because they too believe that no child should have to face cancer,” he said.
Cancer is the leading cause of death in children, second only to injury, the press release stated. About 130 cases a year will occur in B.C. Of these, 24 children will not survive.
For more info or to donate visit cancer.ca or call 1-888-939-333.
