Fiona Kirkpatrick Parsons

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Proud to be riding in my 9th Ride For Cancer — here’s one reason why:

Nova Scotia has the highest cancer rates in all of Canada. 1 in 3 patients will not survive. To help combat these alarming stats, our BMO Ride for Cancer community is rallying like never before to introduce liquid biopsy technology that will help determine if a patient’s cancer is cured, if it has returned, and, if so, how best to treat it.

On Saturday, September 28, 2024, I’m riding alongside a community with one common goal: transforming local cancer care at the QEII Health Sciences Centre.

Faster diagnosis saves lives, which is why BMO Ride for Cancer is on a mission to bring rapid cancer detection and monitoring to patients who have already undergone treatment. With a simple blood test that can happen anywhere in the province, QEII experts will use this revolutionary technology to uncover whether patients are cancer-free after surgery and the earliest signs if their cancer has returned.

This technology will be a game-changer. Life-changing benefits include:

improving survival rates and provide potential cures with earlier detection and personalized treatment options;
unlocking access to more clinical trials;
sparing patients from unnecessary treatments and harmful side effects;
keeping care closer to home and ensuring equitable access, as patients can undergo a simple blood test in any community in Nova Scotia;
reducing the number of visits required to the QEII, which ultimately impacts wait times;
providing critical answers about a patient’s cancer sooner, helping to relieve anxiety and worry; and much more.

By supporting my ride today, you are joining a community dedicated to moving the needle in cancer care for Nova Scotians. Your support will pave the way for a future of hope for all of us.

Are you ready to save lives?

To learn more about liquid biopsy technology and the impact your critical donation will have, click here: https://yourrideforcancer.ca/impact/

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Why do I keep doing this?

The 2024 BMO Ride for Cancer will be my ninth time participating and raising funds (individually, I’ve raised nearly $20K over those years, so far, thanks to my friends, family, acquaintances and colleagues).

My first Ride year, 2016, I did it mostly to help out a very good cause, ride with my then colleagues, and to improve my own health. I had so much fun, I signed up to ride the following year. That's when EVERYTHING changed.

By the time the 2017 Ride rolled around, I was riding because my husband Mike had just been diagnosed with a rare bone marrow cancer, a form of chronic leukemia called Primary Myelofibrosis. We didn’t know what was ahead when he was first diagnosed and, while the cancer hasn’t gone away (because there is currently no cure), he has been holding steady and receiving excellent care from the QEII Health Sciences Centre.

What keeps the two of us (and our team, Mikey’s Bikers) raising funds each and every year is both for personal reasons and to actually contribute to better cancer care in a tangible way. (In fact, some of the technology and treatments we have brought to the QEII as a result of the Ride, has benefitted Mike directly and it will no doubt help him in the future).

Then, in May 2021, I lost my stepdad, Fred Pertson, to prostate cancer. As a way to manage my own grief, it helped to get on my bike and that difficult loss just added more fuel to my own desire to do more to help people who have been impacted by cancer.

And last year, I lost my dear Dad, Mike Kirkpatrick, to lung cancer. I was with him for his final few days and helped with his care. I watched how this disease took over this vital, lively, intelligent man who loved life. This year, I will ride, carrying some of my father’s ashes with me.

I know so many of you taking the time to read this can understand when I say that we must do all we can to not only prevent and cure cancers of all kinds, but that we must also do what we can to ensure the best possible treatment and care.

This is why I ride.

This year, we are raising funds to bring liquid biopsy technology to the QEII. This biopsy will determine if a patient’s cancer is cured after surgery, the earliest signs if it has returned and, if so, how best to treat it.

I am asking, if you can, to please support my ride this year. All donations of $10 or more will receive a tax receipt.

Thank you so much.