Survivors
In 2026, we focus on the joy and the future surviving pediatric Cancer.
With our fundraising, CCBD has employed a full-time faculty psychologist (in 2010) and created the entire wellness team. This team has created a worldwide model demonstrating that cure rates are significantly higher when CCBD treats the entire patient, not just their body.
With these major breakthroughs, we have had indescribable losses as well. We continue the fight because while 85% cure rates are incredible, being in the 15% still means your child did not survive.
This is a significant part of survivorship, because beating the physical disease is just the first step. Those who do survive often have a lifetime of side effects from their disease. This is unacceptable.
Legacy
So, what’s it all about?
Over each of the last 12 years, we have honored the memory of a child who died. Families who have mourned the loss of a child have a bond that is indescribable. Through this legacy, Wheels has become a safe place for those with insurmountable grief.
For our 21st year, we honor the SURVIVORS!
Though we are switching gears this year, we still ride in honor of those we have lost. This year, we are bringing awareness to the other side of pediatric cancer and blood disorders, the survivors.
Survivorship is a fairly new concept in the world of pediatric oncology and blood disorder treatment. More pediatric patients are surviving treatments and now we must figure out how to support them moving forward in their lives.
For some, survivorship comes with many anxieties and additional concerns: scans, recurrence, a new cancer that was caused by the chemotherapy and radiation needed to cure the first cancer, infertility, chronic illnesses caused by treatment, developmental disabilities, and so much more.
What I have learned throughout the years working on CCBD, is every single survivor handles it differently. Every family, every sibling, every friend. All different. There is no right or wrong way to survive a pediatric cancer or a blood disorder. However, there is one way to celebrate them! We will ride up mountain passes in July to raise more money for pediatric cancer and blood disorder research! We will persist, so in the years to come, we have more and more survivors to celebrate. We do this in honor and reverence for those we have lost.
For so many, they have been impacted by the research Wheels of Justice supports. Each year we hear of new groundbreaking treatments happening at Children’s Hospital of Colorado. This year is the year we celebrate the patients all that research has saved. The Wheels team rides as a fiery community dedicated to improving treatment and research within CCBD!