2011 wasn't a banner year for St. Albert's Noel Deagle.
First, the retired Edmonton police officer smashed his leg and ankle in a motorcycle accident, meaning he couldn't take part in that year's Motorcycle Ride for Dad — a prostate-cancer fundraiser he'd raised tens of thousands of dollars for in the past.
Then he found out he had prostate cancer. "You sit back and say, 'Jesus, that can't be right," he said. "And yet it was right, and it was cancer."
But these events just made him even more determined to end the disease once and for all, he says.
Last Saturday, barely a year after his accident and prostatectomy, Deagle was back on his bike on the runway at the Edmonton Garrison for the 2012 Motorcycle Ride for Dad — a national event that sees men and women ride en-masse on motorbikes to raise awareness about prostate cancer.
With a sound like rolling thunder, Deagle and some 800 other riders simultaneously started their motorbikes and rolled out on a 280-kilometre ride past Namao, Fort Saskatchewan, Beaumont, Devon, Thorsby and Stony Plain.
Deagle, 60, led the pack as an honorary ride captain. He's raised about $51,000 for the Edmonton ride since it started in 2007 ($13,400 of it this year), and is considered by many to be one of the event's top fundraisers.
It's always awesome to look back during the ride and see a line of cycles stretching as far as you can see, Deagle said.
"People see the bikes, they hear the bikes […] it reminds them of what we're trying to do."
Crotch-rockets for cancer
This was the sixth time that the ride had been done in Edmonton, said organizer and St. Albert resident Mike Tabler, and the weather was perfect for it. The threat of rain meant they had about 300 less riders than last year, but they still managed to raise about $200,000.
Sparkling Harley, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Triumph motorcycles were all over the garrison Saturday morning, as was more black leather than a death-metal concert.
Also there was Namao's John McNeilly. This grey-stubbled, laid-back Edmonton cop helped found the Edmonton Ride for Dad campaign in 2007.
He's paid for it, too. "During the ride a couple of years ago a car turned in front of me and I broke six ribs," he recalled.
He got a skull-and-crossbones 'Busted Bones Club' patch on his jacket to commemorate the event. "Apparently because of me, we have the St. John's Ambulance folks following us just in case," he adds, with a laugh.
The ride's founder, Garry Janz (who rode to the Edmonton ride from Ontario), said he started the ride after one of his friends shared his regrets over not getting tested for prostate cancer.
"He said, 'Gary, if somebody would have told me about the PSA [prostate-specific antigen] test a year earlier, I wouldn't be going home this afternoon to arrange my funeral,'" Janz recalled. "Wow. Hit me like a brick between the eyes."
A biker, Janz said he decided to start an awareness campaign for prostate cancer based around a motorcycle ride. The ride has now spread to 30 cities, with the Edmonton ride alone raising about $1 million for cancer research since its inception.
Get it checked
The prostate itself is a walnut-sized gland found under the bladder that produces the fluid that carries sperm.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer amongst men (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer), according to the Canadian Cancer Society, affecting about one in seven men. About 4,000 Canadian men — or about 11 a day — will die from it this year.
But few men get tested for it, McNeilly said. "It's one of those guy things where [you think] it's not going to happen to me," he said, and the disease itself has few obvious symptoms.
The test has doctors examine your prostate by sticking a finger in your rectum, McNeilly said, followed by a blood test for antigens associated with cancer. "It's uncomfortable, but it only takes a couple of minutes and you're done for another year."
About 90 per cent of prostate cancers can be successfully treated if detected early, Janz said. "If you've got any male friend who's 40 years old or more, have them get it checked."
Every man has a prostate, Deagle emphasized, and every man is at risk of developing prostate cancer. "If you stick your head in the sand and say, 'It'll never happen to me,' you're gonna die."
Visit motorcycleridefordad.org for more information.
