The BIG C!

These days, the one phrase that no one likes to hear associated with anyone in their circle is "The BIG C". Most would immediately recognize the phrase as it alludes to Cancer, but I've decided to redefine it, putting a positive spin on it, make it something of a badge, or medal. The Big C for me is emblematic of COURAGE, be it coping, battling, talking about, or supporting those in the fight. This alteration is a direct result of a friend of mine's eloquent retelling of his personal journey involving Cancer, which caused me pause to take stock of how it has invaded my life, from a personal standpoint.

I first met Marty McCrone eons ago, thanks to our mutual love of basketball. He's a little older that I am and was one of my early heroes in the sport. I marvelled at how effortlessly he commanded the respect of his opponents by tirelessly competing with the ferocity of a wolverine. He always seemed to be one step ahead of the defence, willing his body to do things I had not seen before with the grace of a ballet master. As time passed, our paths crossed multiple occasions on the court, in the classroom, as coaches, and then as friends, developing a mutual respect that grew into a really comfortable relationship. I was honoured by his invitation to develop friendships with his wife Julie, and two sons Luke and Jake.

Marty is really easy to like and personifies the word COURAGE.

Marty is a shining beacon of positivity, quick with a genuine smile, has an amazingly loud laugh, and quickly sucks people into his influence like some irresistible, invisible vacuum. Pretty hard to miss, he belies his giant stature in his gentle, genuine interactions with children. Barrie born and raised, he is recognizable to many as one of the two faces for Thunderhoops Shooting Camp, along with lifelong friend Paul Hopper, but more recently, his infamy has spread thanks to his willingness to be completely vulnerable through a brilliantly written, bare-it-all expose of his battles with Cancer that he has shared with friends through Social Media. I'm embarrassed to say that I had no idea of the depths Cancer had dragged him to, and the pain, anguish and heartache it cause his loved ones. I was well aware of his struggles, the scars of battle are really hard to miss, but I'm not at all surprised by his attitude because that's Marty to a T. If his expose can alleviate the fears of others enduring similar journeys through "Middle Earth" as he calls it, then he wouldn't hesitate for a second. His openness as a Cancer warrior, approaching complete strangers displaying the telltale signs of their own war with sincere caring, empathy and concern, is alone worthy of respect, but his one-man crusade to make the world a better place to be, simply because he can, makes him one of the most admirable people I know.

You need to get to know this guy. 

If you're not connected to him on Social Media, you can try looking him up on FB. That's where he's posted his writings on how he dealt with two different Cancer battles and they are ABSOLUTELY worth reading.

Cancer has robbed my life of some really awesome people. Those who know me will be already be aware of the personal pain of losing my father Terry "Doc" Porter at an early age to the damned disease, but there have also been close friends like Mike Morrison, Paul Bethune, Bob Caville, and more recently, John Larsen, to name only a handful, who's bravery fighting was not rewarded. 

It's the insidiousness of the disease that gets me the most, with cases where the primary is never found but there are loads of secondaries, ultimately leading the a losing battle. That was the case with my father. Even an autopsy failed to definitively answer the questions of where it all started. Then there are those that seem to be doomed from the discovery, detection coming early, treatment starting quickly and aggressively, yet other than making life miserable, fail to produce results. 

Frustrating barely covers my reaction.

This month, I'm riding my bike in support of Sick Kids Hospital and childhood cancer research. It's a program I was introduced to last year, and I thought that I should continue, so I set my goals for both riding and fundraising at levels that I felt were a reach, yet attainable. Lo and behold, I hadn't even ridden a single day before I had surpassed my $500 fundraising goal thanks to my own personal gift and some serious generosity from good friends. As the first few days of August passed, a few other friends flexed their generosity muscles, and combined with some system donor matching, pushed me over the $1000 mark, twice what I had set out to raise. Now all I had to accomplish were the rides to cover the 1000 km's that I committed to, and at the time of this writing, I am proud to say that I achieved that goal by the 18th ... with still more km's to come. The system allows us to increase our fundraising and distance goals if desired, but for right now, I feel like sticking with what I committed to is best. 

When I ride more km's ... and I will ... then that'll be awesome. 

In the end, I feel really, really humbled and grateful for the assistance raising just north of $1000 for Cancer research. Hopefully we can all do our little part to help find a foolproof way to shelter families, like yours, mine and Marty's, from the life-altering effects of Cancer.