Skate4Cancer
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Skate4Cancer is a foundation that was founded by Rob Dyer after losing many of his loved ones to cancer. The main idea behind Skate4Cancer is that the cure is knowledge. They show you how to prevent cancer so that you can catch it early and hopefully become cancer free as soon as possible.
In 2004, Dyer skated over 8000 km from his hometown of Newmarket, Ontario to Los Angeles, California. Just four months prior to his skate, Rob lost his paternal grandmother to stomach cancer. Before he knew it, his maternal grandmother died from brain cancer. After losing two of the most important women in his life, his world was turned upside down when he lost his mother, Wendy, to brain cancer. That wasn't it, right before he set out on his skate, he lost his best friend to stomach cancer. There were many obstacles but Rob and the S4C team finished the skate in 5 months.[1]
In 2008, Rob decided he would do yet another cross country skate. This time focusing on Canada. He left Vancouver, BC in June and within 4 days he was already at the Rocky Mountains. They finished their second skate on a late November night in Halifax, NS.[2]
Rob and the team set out to New Zealand and Australia in early 2010. They finished all of New Zealand in a short amount of time and made their way to Australia for the second leg of their skate. Almost in Adelaide, Rob was side swiped by a car while skating one afternoon. He managed to get up and walk a bit to get cell phone service so he could call the van to come pick him up. Immediately, he went to the doctor and got it checked out, only to be told he had a groin injury that would take 4 to 6 weeks to heal and that was without even knowing the severity of the injury. After a long thought process, Rob decided it was better for him to return to Canada to heal and that they would finish their skate in the new year. Rob ended up skating a total of 3667 km before returning home.[3]
Dyer and the team are set to start a France skate on June 21, 2011.[4]
Skate4Cancer has toured with bands such as RocketRocketShip, The Deftones, City and color, Alexisonfire, Silverstein, The Devil Wears Prada, Shad and have also had a booth set up at Warped Tour for the past few years and have a booth at this year's SCENE fest. They stock up on fliers about self breast exams, quitting smoking and other ways to prevent cancer.
In 2009, Ashley Kirilow, a woman who shaved her head, plucked her eyebrows and starved herself to appear as a chemotherapy patient, convinced Rob and the team to fly her to Disney World to spend time with her hero, Rob Dyer.[5] Skate4Cancer sent out a statement saying "For your peace of mind, Skate4Cancer has no formal or informal affiliation to Change For A Cure. There have been no jointly held events or fundraising initiatives. Skate4Cancer's involvement with Ms. Kirilow was based solely on fulfilling what the organization believed to be a legitimate final wish from a terminally ill individual. " [6]
References
- ↑ "2004 USA Skate". http://dreamlovecure.org/2004-america-skate. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ↑ "2009 Canada Skate". http://dreamlovecure.org/2008-canada-skate. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ↑ "2010 New Zealand/Australia Skate". http://dreamlovecure.org/2010-new-zealand-australia-skate. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ↑ "2011 France Skate". http://dreamlovecure.org/2011-france-skate. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ↑ "Woman faked cancer to raise money". The Star. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/844614--woman-faked-cancer-to-raise-money. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ↑ "Change 4 A Cure = Scam". http://www.webcitation.org/5sXKsQ1EQ. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
