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Vernon residents are being urged to take part in this year's Do It For Dad run and walk, taking place at Coldstream Ranch this weekend.
“The Do it for Dad event is very important to me,” Roy Gavelin, a Vernon resident and survivor of prostate cancer. “The journey is not pleasant when you are told you have cancer. We have to encourage men and their families to take responsibility for their health before it’s too late.”
One in eight Canadian men is expected to develop prostate cancer during his lifetime.
Gavelin acknowledges the statistics sound pretty scary, but stresses a cancer diagnosis is not an automatic death sentence.
Eleven years after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, the 67-year-old retired ranch worker and firefighter has a message of hope.
“I really sympathize with others going through cancer. It will scare you, but it’s not the end. With family support, great doctors and a faith structure, you can overcome anything. It’s a shock, but there is always hope.”
After going through surgery, Gavelin was hit with more shocking news from doctors.
“Everything went well with the surgeries, but then I was blind-sided by another form of cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia,” he said.
“Once a year I see a hematologist, I don’t take medications. I just live with it. This cancer is an interesting road. You really never know what all is going to come out of it. I just feel blessed at 67 years old, that I am as healthy as I am.”
After his diagnosis, Gavelin joined the Vernon Prostate Cancer Support and Awareness Group.
“Men have different ways of dealing with things,” he said. “Men often miss out on the support side, and the support side is the fun side. You’ve already been through the scare, so it’s nice to be able to sit down and talk to somebody who has gone through it and connect with them.”
Funds raised from Do it For Dad help fund educational materials for the support group as well as purchase equipment and PSA testing vouchers to diagnose prostate cancer for men in the North Okanagan.
The 17th annual Do it For Dad Run & Walk takes place Sunday, June 19 at Coldstream Ranch.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the race starts at 9:30 a.m. To register or donate, visit vjhfoundation.org or call 250-558-1362.
