MIAMI, Fla. – For the 12th year in a row thousands of South Floridians take to the streets Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, for the annual Dolphins Challenge Cancer fundraising event.
Among the more than 4,300 will be Local10′s Janine Stanwood, who has publicly shared her own personal battles with cancer.
Joining her will be 44-year-old Daisy Atkins who was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer in 2018
.At the time, she had no idea there was a family history of the disease.
”I found out my grandmother was a breast cancer survivor and one of my aunts on my father’s side passed away from breast cancer and there were some other cases as well that I’m learning about,” Atkins said.
Long before her diagnosis, Atkins became involved in the Dolphins Challenge Cancer event created by former Miami Dolphin player, sports broadcaster, and Local10 sports commentator Jim “Mad Dog” Mandich who died from bile duct cancer in the spring of 2011.
”Jim ‘Mad Dog’ Mandich started this out with a vision, knowing that we needed better cancer treatment down here in South Florida,” said Javier Sanchez, Executive Director of Dolphins Challenge Cancer.
Through many partnerships over the past 12 years, the DCC has raised 45 million dollars for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
”We have a lot of survivorship initiatives where we try to prevent long-term complications and improve the lives of people who are living with cancer, who have had cancers,” said Dr. Stephen Nimer, Director of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Like Atkins and so many others, Stanwood said she has benefitted from the research generated by this fundraising effort during her own battles with both breast and thyroid cancer.”Our message here is it’s living proof, it’s living proof that cancer research saves lives, living proof that funding cancer research helps identify new cures, new treatments for greater outcomes and better patient experiences,” Sanchez said.
So far Atkin’s team has raised over $10,000 for this year’s event.
As a healthcare professional herself, she believes giving back is the best medicine.”I got to see the medical profession work for me in ways i can even describe or put in so many words but gratitude is definitely something I would hold on to,” Atkins said.
The Dolphins Challenge Cancer includes 4 cycling events and a 5k and even though in-person registration is closed, you can still participate virtually.
To find out how go to: https://dolphins.donordrive.com