Laura Anderson probably didn’t expect to be on stage at the Bellerose Bikeathon this year. She’s a Paul Kane student, for one, and was leading a typical high-school life full of hockey, swimming and volleyball up until last fall.
But on Nov. 21, she went to the hospital with a sharp pain in her abdomen. Doctors found a mass there, cut it out and analyzed it. On Dec. 20, they told her she had a very rare form of soft-tissue cancer called CIC-rearranged.
“I never thought I would hear the word ‘cancer’ come out of my doctor’s mouth,” she said, speaking before some 800 Bellerose students Wednesday while fighting back tears.
Now, she’s in and out of the Stollery Children’s Hospital for chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and will continue to do so until the treatments wrap up this August, just two weeks after she turns 18.
Anderson said in an interview she volunteered to speak at the Bikeathon’s opening ceremonies after she realized the money it raised helped fund research and treatment programs for her and other youths with cancer at the Stollery.
“The dedication in this room has inspired me and other kids with cancer to keep fighting,” she told the crowd, and helped her share her story.
“Yes, I am a PK Blue, but I will forever hold a place in my heart for the (Bellerose) Bulldogs.”
Anderson’s story was one of the many heart-wrenching yet inspiring tales of cancer survival to be found at the 16th annual Bellerose Bikeathon this week, which saw 715 students (including Anderson for a short time) keep 68 stationary bikes spinning for 48 hours straight to raise money for the Kids With Cancer Society and the Alberta Cancer Foundation. Many also shaved their heads or beards Thursday as part of a related fundraiser for the Stollery.
Students got this year’s event off to a rousing start Wednesday, marching en masse into the school’s front atrium to a live band playing “YMCA” by the Village People and sporting outrageous costumes and team names.
Many had personal tales of loss and survival related to cancer to share, as befit this year’s Dr. Seuss-centric theme of “Your Story is Our Story.”
“I want you to be the Lorax,” Bikeathon co-founder Sue Leighton told the students, referring to a large banner that sported an image of Seuss’s tiny messenger on the main stage.
“Make those who need you, make them know that their story is your story.”
Bellerose student Kyle Fisher, who sported shades, a yellow lei, a turquoise jersey and a long blonde wig as a member of The Blonde Boys squad, told the Gazette he was riding in memory of his aunt, who survived three bouts with brain cancer but lost the fourth. He also spoke of his own brush with cancer, where he had a growth removed from his neck when he was about a year old.
“Had my parents waited half an hour to get to the hospital, I would have died,” he said.
Leighton told the crowd of how her father died of lung cancer in 2014, and of how Bellerose staff and students rallied around her when her daughter Caleigh, herself a Bikeathon veteran, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma that same year. Thanks to the help of doctors and Bikeathon participants, Caleigh was alive, healthy, and here at this year’s Bikeathon.
“On a personal note, my story is your story.”
The students heard some 53 Albertans are diagnosed with cancer each day, and the money they raised has helped fund everything from new treatments to groundbreaking research such as The Tomorrow Project – a massive province-wide study that has already flagged six genes linked to cancer.
When the Bikeathon spun to a close at 12:37 p.m. Friday, the students learned they had raised some $247,287.41 for cancer research, bringing their 16-year total to roughly $2.72 million.
Anderson said in an interview she hoped her story gave the riders a reason to press on, just as their story did for her.
Her message to other youths with cancer is to keep up the fight.
“It’s such a change to hear the word ‘cancer,’ but it gets better.”
For photos of the 16th annual Bellerose Bikeathon, turn to page 16.
