FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Two Students Ride For Cancer Patient
“It started out as an idea to give us some purpose for riding our touring bicycles home from working in the Seattle area this summer,” observed David Clark, one of the two students organizing the September 11th Brett Fafard Cancer Ride. He continued, “Now it has turned into a labor of love.”
Keith Weitze and David Clark first posted their idea on Facebook and were almost immediately contacted by friends of Brett Fafard who were concerned with Brett’s situation. Brett is a 22 year-old Utah Valley University student who was diagnosed with advanced stage III testicular cancer on June 8th this year. Similar to millions of other Americans that fall into this age group of 19-29 years, Brett has no way of getting medical insurance. He was denied public health care because he made too much during the year, yet not nearly enough, with his $10 an hour salary, to afford expensive private insurance. Currently, Brett has undergone his first round of chemotherapy and has had two surgeries to combat the cancer that has invaded his abdomen, chest, liver, lungs and neck. He will be going through several more rounds of chemotherapy and possibly more surgery or radiation therapy. “We hope that donations created from the awareness of our ride will aid him in getting necessary treatments and ease the financial concern from treatments that may end up costing him more than $100,000” commented Keith. “It is our way of showing our compassion and to allow others a similar opportunity.”
Keith and David have carefully planned their trip. They have designated the towns where they expect to sleep and also where they will replenish their supplies. “We have covered all of our personal expenses for the trip so 100% of the donations collected will go directly toward Brett's care,” said David. The pair will leave Renton, Washington and expect to arrive at BYU in Provo, Utah two weeks later. They plan to travel approximately 60 to 100 miles a day during this 950 mile journey.
“We hope to provide several thousands of dollars, if not tens of thousands to help cover the medical costs,” Keith continued. “It’s not about which school you attend, which state you live in, or which faith you observe or don’t observe. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that a person does something when and where they can— not just talk about it. This is how we can show our support. We are exerting our time and energy and we hope others will donate to the On the Road to a Cure account at Wells Fargo or through our website. In these troubled times, we each must stand up and be counted, even when it seems like the odds are stacked against you.”
An informational website has been created at
http://www.ontheroadtoacure.webs.com/ where details about Brett, Keith, David, the ride, and how a person can participate are posted.
Contacts:
Keith Weitze: (209) 566-5283 or
kweitze@gmail.com
David Clark: (801) 609-1798 or
davidmclarkii@live.com