Written by SCOTT STANFIELD
Citizen staff
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Friday, 05 September 2008 |
Tour de North riders head up Ospika Boulevard on their way to Vanderhoof. (Citizen photo by Brent Braaten )
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This is the second tour for Jackson, who dedicated last year's ride to his brother-in-law Marcus Dressel, who, at 37, was diagnosed with cancer last spring and passed away in November.
Jackson, a firefighter in Williams Lake before joining the RCMP, is dedicating this year's ride to his former firefighting chief, who succumbed to cancer this year.
"That's who I'm riding for," Jackson said Friday at a ceremony at the Re/Max Realty parking lot on 15th Avenue.
Jackson's dedications are a reminder that most people are touched in some way by cancer.
"I lost a good friend this summer, and a colleague, and we all know who I'm talking about," said RCMP Chief Supt. Barry Clark, in reference to Cpl. Wayne Hubbell, who succumbed to brain cancer this summer. "Wayne fought a good battle, and lost it. I dedicate this ride to his memory."
The Tour de North raises funds for pediatric cancer research and programs such as Camp Good Times near Maple Ridge, an annual retreat for children and youth with cancer. One of the riders, auxiliary RCMP Const. Brodie Garrison, visited the camp this summer.
"It gives them a chance to get away from the reality of their sickness," Garrison said.
A number of staff from the B.C. Ambulance Service and Re/Max participated in a fundraising head shave before the riders hit the road.
"Everything you do today is going to help those children and their families," Canadian Cancer Society representative Margaret Bricker-Jones said.
Since the early-1950s, the mortality rate from childhood cancer has declined by more than 50 per cent. Still, about 1,300 Canadian children and youth are diagnosed each year with the disease, which is the second leading cause of death in children, after injuries.
The CCS has spent nearly $1 billion in cancer research in the past 50 years. At present, the overall cancer survival rate in Canada is 60 per cent, while it was just 25 per cent about 40 years years ago, according to Dennis Nore, the society's revenue development officer in Prince George.
"Cancer research is a very good investment," Nore said.
Last year, four B.C. Cops for Cancer tours raised $3.2 million.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 05 September 2008 )
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