Lots of men like to ride their motorcycles during the summer. A large group is taking their bikes out for one big parade in a few weeks to spread an important message about men’s health: get your prostate checked once a year.
The Motorcycle Ride for Dad is an annual bike tour that gets thousands of motorcyclists on the road in 25 cities to drive home that very message. Now in its fourth Edmonton-area outing this summer, the ride has already raised about $500,000 to rev up financial support for prostate cancer education and research at the Cross Cancer Institute. This time around there’s a new route and a new target: $225,000. When you consider that it also receives matching funding from the Alberta government, this means the thunder coming down the highway could be the harbinger of great things for the local cancer research community.
Carey Ellingson is the co-chair of this year’s event. He said men need to wake up and do the sensible thing. An annual prostate exam is just taking care of business before it takes care of you. He then related the story about the inspiration behind the event and its founder, Garry Janz who was filming a documentary on cancer when he met a man named Charlie who was hospitalized at the time.
“What Charlie said to [Garry] was, ‘You know what? If I had gone in and got my prostate checked a year ago, I wouldn’t be planning my funeral today’. That stuck with Garry and so when Charlie passed away, he decided to do this.”
According to statistics provided by the event, there are more than 18,000 new cases of prostate cancer across the country while some 4,000 men lose their battle with it every year. It is estimated that one million men have it but only 20 per cent have been diagnosed and are actively receiving treatment.
Ellingson said he recently lost his father-in-law to the disease, a sad reminder about mortality considering the man was a Second World War veteran, even surviving the brutal raid on Dieppe.
“That’s why I’m involved. There’s got to be a better way just to raise awareness just so people get checked. It’s 95 per cent curable if it’s caught early enough. When you have your 40th birthday, that’s when you should start including it in your annual physical exams. It’s a very simple test. It’s painless.”
Ellingson said the exam, when combined with a prostate specific antigen blood test is very effective at determining early cases, and that means a much-improved shot at fighting the cancer.
The Motorcycle Ride for Dad is one of the nation’s foremost fundraising events, specifically benefiting research and education about this cancer.
Motorcycle Ride for Dad
Sat., June 12<br />Ride commences at 10 a.m. from CFB Edmonton Garrison<br />www.motorcycleridefordad.org
