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5 | Thursday August 10, 2017 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insidehalton.com C oupleto cycle Canada for childhood cancer research by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff An Oakville husband and wife team will soon be riding their bikes across the country to help raise funds for the fight against childhood cancer. Kelly and Steve Hawkins are participating in the 2017 Sears National Kids Cancer Ride, which will begin in Vancouver on Sept. 7 and end in Halifax on Sept. 24. The pair will join a team of around 30 other riders for the intense 7,200 km trek. While the duo has ridden in the Tour For Kids charity ride multiple times this will be Steve' s first time participating in the considerably larger National Kids Cancer Ride. "I'm looking forward to it," said Steve, who works as commercial insurance broker. "Maybe a little nervous, but we still have a month to get ready;" Kelly, who works as an investment advisor, completed the ride in 2013 and 2015. "I'm geared up for number three," she said. "For number one I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I had the time of my life. The second time I knew what I was getting into, but I got really homesick. This time I'm bringing home with me." Training for this experience begins about a year beforehand with lots of cycling. Kelly and Steve just took two weeks off work during which they estimate they rode about 900 km. They also cycle to work in Toronto and cycle again on the weekends. While the wet weather has made training hard Kelly said the National Kids Cancer Ride takes place rain or shine with riders taken off the road in the event of thunderstorms or extreme winds. As grueling as the ride can get the pair say it is nothing compared what the children they are riding to support go through. Kelly saw this strength first hand during her past rides when her group stopped at several pediatric oncology centres along the way so they meet child cancer patients and their families. "It' s heartbreaking. It' s really hard to walk onto those floors This September, Steve Hawkins will be joined by his wife, Kelly Hawkins on her third Sears National Kids Cancer Ride across Canada. The ride will see them will travel 7,200 kilometres.. | Nikki Wesley/Metroland and you see a crib and you just say to yourself, ` You have got to be kidding m e.. .You see the kids who have gone through chemotherapy and they have these strings of beads and every bead marks a treatment they've had," said Kelly. "The one thing I really took away from the first year is in spite of this they are the happiest kids. Theres no, ` Poor me.' You never see that from them." Kelly talked about one little girl who was so excited to speak to the riders that she shrugged away her mother' s attempts to put a wig on her and ran to meet everyone as she was. In 2013 and 2015 Kelly dedicated her ride to these amazing children. This year, with Steve participating, their ride will also be dedicated to Steve' s late cousin Karen Hawkins. At the age of seven the vibrant and social young girl developed retroperitoneal sarcoma, a rare cancer that attacks muscle, bone, nerves, cartilage, tendons and blood vessels. Karen survived with the help of numerous surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy, but treatments took their toll. She was left with numerous health challenges including only one functioning kidney, irreversibly compromised lungs and a thoracic cavity that did not develop in sync with the rest of her body. All these complications cut her life short and she passed away in 2005 at the age of 44. "She was fun loving, outgoing. She was in ballet, wrote poetry, she was very artistically inclined," said Steve. "I always knew I wanted to do this ride and that when it was my turn I would dedicate the ride to her and her memory." While the ride seeks to raise funds it also strives to raise awareness of underfunding childhood cancer research. Kelly said part of this may be because childhood cancer is just something many people would rather not think about. Whatever reason she said this underfunding compounds an already tragic situation, which goes well beyond the sick child themselves. "There' s a huge financial burden for the family. Mom or dad will have to stop working," said Kelly. "If there are siblings they end up having to live elsewhere with aunts and uncles or grandma." Kelly and Steve are hoping to raise $100,000 for childhood cancer research and to support for the families of childhood cancer patients. As of Friday (Aug. 4) they have raised $66,675. The couple noted all money raised goes to help these children. The riders pay their own way during the ride and those who attend to them are volunteers. "Riding in the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride will channel our physical, mental and emotional energy into something much greater -- helping brave children return to life as regular kids again," said Kelly on her webpage. "We will share the road with a team of cyclists, united in our commitment to the childhood cancer community." To learn more or to donate visit https://secure.e2rm.com/ registrant/FundraisingPage.as px?registrationID=3640824& langPref=en-CA#&panel1-11. 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