A group of area residents plan to take a walking tour of some Calgary area neighbourhoods later this summer.
But this isn’t just any walking tour, it is one with a purpose, to help conquer cancer.
On June 25, Barrhead resident Violet Schriever and six of her friends, will be travelling to Calgary to take part in the first ever One Walk to Conquer Cancer.
The walk is a one-day, 25-kilometre walk through the streets and communities of Calgary, to raise cancer awareness as well as funds for the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
A Statistics Canada document estimated there were 196,900 newly diagnosed cases of cancer in Canada in 2015. It is also estimated that 78,000 Canadians lost their lives due to cancer.
In Alberta, the numbers are equally disturbing, with more than 17,000 new cancer cases being diagnosed and 6,500 deaths due to cancer.
Schriever considers herself to be one of the fortunate ones, those who have been diagnosed with cancer and have lived to tell their story.
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, when I was about 54 years-old,” she said, adding the diagnoses came as a complete surprise, even though cancer runs in her mother’s side of the family.
As a result Schriever said, she scheduled her regular mammogram whenever Alberta Health’s travelling mammogram testing clinic, called Screen Test, came to Barrhead.
“That is where my cancer was detected,” she said, adding she was fortunate to have been able to have the test taken. Because Screen Test is a mobile clinic and is only in a given town for a short time, there are only a limited number of slots. Schriever had the very last mammogram test scheduled.
“After that I received a series of chemotherapy treatments and then radiation,” she said, adding about a year later she was declared cancer free. “The term is actually remission because, as any cancer survivor will tell you, a person is never cured. We are just in a period of remission and so far I have been in remission for 12 years.”
About three years after being diagnosed as being in remission, Schriever joined a group of area women, called Breast of Friends in 2007, and take part in a two-day 60 kilometre walk in Edmonton called a Weekend to End Cancer.
“Our group actually was started two years earlier, by Laura Renkema, from Fort Assiniboine and she recruited another breast cancer survivor Jill Lee and it just kind of took off from there,” she said, adding every year the group participated in Edmonton.
Unfortunately the Weekend to End Cancer was cancelled in 2013 after eight years when participation started to wane.
“We (Breast of Friends) were all disappointed it was cancelled,” she said, adding they were all pleased to find out the Alberta Cancer Foundation would be putting on the One Walk to Conquer Cancer, despite all the effort it takes to take part in the event. “It really is quite a commitment.”
In addition to being able to physically walk 25 kilometres or 15.5 miles, each participant must raise or donate a minimum of $1,500.
To raise the money Schriever said she asks all her family and friends to donate, adding Breast of Friends team members get together and organize fundraisers, such as hotdog sales, but that won’t be until the spring.
In the meanwhile she said people can help out the team by donating through the event’s website www.onewalk.ca and selecting Alberta and then clicking on the donate button. People can either then type in the team name or Schriever or one of her teammates (Hans Schriever, Laura Renkema, Jill or James Lee, Lori Kirchner and Debbie Breitkreitz).
Schriever said all the money the team raises for the Alberta Cancer Foundation as part of the Walk to Conquer Cancer will stay in the province to help other Alberta families.
“We have asked that all our money be put towards the Edmonton Cross Cancer Institute,” she said.
Schriever said she is not really doing anything special to prepare for the 25 kilometre walk.
“I’m not sure how to explain it, but when you take part in an event like the Weekend to End Cancer or the Walk to Conquer Cancer, you know what you are walking for,” she said. “Whether you or a family member of friend have been or is currently fighting cancer it is something you can’t control, but you do have control when you are walking and it is a positive thing. That is the thing that keeps me going.”
Schriever said the Breast of Friends team is always looking for more members. If anyone is interested in joining them contact Schriever at 780-674-6866.
