Olympian Nathalie Lambert to welcome participants at end of journey this afternoon at Novartis headquarters in Dorval DORVAL, QC (CNW) - His mother's experience with breast cancer is what inspired Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada employee Pierre Bourdage to participate in the sixth annual "Ride for the Cure" by bicycle from Toronto to Montreal which will end this afternoon at the Novartis headquarters building in Dorval, where they will be greeted by employees and Olympic medalist Nathalie Lambert. This year's effort is expected to raise another $120,000 for breast cancer research, adding to the more than $500,000 already raised by the event since it was started in 2005.
Six years ago, Louise Bourdage, then age 53 and herself a Novartis employee, had a small lump removed from her breast. It was benign, but aggressive lobular breast cancer was found behind it. She underwent a double radical mastectomy, followed by chemotherapy with a number of drugs. She has now been cancer free for more than six years, a recent milestone she celebrated with her husband, son, daughter and first grandson. In the past month, both her son and daughter and their partners have presented her with two more grandsons.
"If not for getting that lump removed and having the chemotherapy drugs available, I wouldn't be here to enjoy all that," she said. "My cancer has changed my life in a remarkable way. It's almost been a blessing in disguise.
I get up every morning happy to be alive and take in everything. When I play with my grandson, I look at him differently than I would have before. My focus has changed. I enjoy life a lot more."
His mother's cancer also changed Pierre. "We were all going a hundred miles an hour in our lives and you don't plan for something like that. It's like hitting a brick wall," he said. "It's really rare in life to see people at their utmost vulnerability, and it's a life-changing experience."
In large part because of what his mother went through, Pierre decided to become one of the participants in this year's Ride for the Cure and join the company's annual effort to raise funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure. Every employee on the Ride from Toronto to Montreal commits to raising at least $2,000 and other employee events add to the total.
Never a serious cyclist, Pierre bought a bike and started the extensive training required to manage to ride the 115 to 200 km a day for four days. The riders left from the CN Tower in Toronto on Saturday and after overnight stays in Cobourg, Kingston and Cornwall will complete the 600-km trip at Novartis this afternoon.
But life got in the way of Pierre's plans. Three weeks ago, his first child was born earlier than expected. Unable to take the time away from his wife and son for the four-day trip, Pierre will instead join his colleagues today for the last leg of the trip from Cornwall, no doubt thinking of both his mother and his young son most of the way.
Pierre and his colleagues will be met at the Novartis headquarters by their colleagues and by three-time Olympic short track speed skating medalist Nathalie Lambert, who was Chef de Mission for the very successful Canadian team at this year's Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
"I congratulate our associates on the completion of the Ride for the Cure and for their fundraising efforts for this great cause," said Tom Rossi, President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada. "In addition to our leadership role in oncology research, this event further underscores our commitment to cancer patients across Canada."
The Ride for the Cure effort was started in 2005 by a group of Novartis employees to increase the company's fundraising efforts for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure and with this year's efforts, the total raised will exceed half a million dollars. In 2009, Novartis was one of the top fundraising organization for the Montreal Run, largely because of the Ride for the Cure effort. Hundreds of Novartis employees, friends and family participated in last year's Montreal Run, as well as at various other Run events across the country where groups of field-based employees gathered.
About breast cancer in Canada The Canadian Cancer Society estimates that 23,200 women and 180 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, an average of 450 per week. An estimated 5,300 women and 50 men will die from the disease this year, more than 100 per week. One out of every nine (11%) Canadian women are expected to develop breast cancer during her lifetime.
However, since 1999 the incidence of breast cancer in Canada has stabilized and since 1986 the death rate from the disease has fallen by more than 30%, likely due to improvements in screening and advances in treatment. At present, the five-year relative survival rate for breast cancer in Canada is 87%, meaning that women diagnosed with breast cancer have an 87% likelihood of living for five years after their diagnosis.
