NEW YORK & VANCOUVER, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MY LIFE IS WORTH IT (MLIWI), a non-profit patient advocacy organization, announced today that 75-year old cancer patient Don Wright has entered the Vancouver USA Marathon, on Sunday, June 19. This will be his 97th marathon with cancer, still on active treatment, putting Don ever closer to achieving his goal to run in at least 100 marathons since his diagnosis 13 years ago. Don runs under the eRace Cancer banner, a social media campaign that has raised awareness of multiple myeloma and medical innovation on behalf of a variety of charities for several years. Don is pleased to be running now on behalf of MY LIFE IS WORTH IT, organized in 2014 by former major league baseball pitcher and fellow myeloma patient Bob Tufts. MLIWI was created to give patients a voice in decisions about access to innovation.
Don was diagnosed in 2003 with multiple myeloma, a cancer of cells in the bone marrow, and he had been taking a pill powerful enough to keep him in remission for seven years. Recently, there were signs that the cancer was returning, so his doctors have been trying new treatment regimens to see which is most effective for him. To date, Don is on his 5th treatment, spanning the last 13 years.
“I’ve been having some problems with my knee, but it’s a typical runner’s problem that’s not related to my cancer. That’s how far we’ve come with treatment,” says Don. “I have been on a new combo treatment regimen for a number of weeks now, adding a new infusion that stimulates the immune system to the pill I’ve been taking all these years, and so far so good.”
“Don shows clearly and personally how patients can benefit from the incredible advances in medical innovation,” says Bob Tufts, who was diagnosed with myeloma in 2009. “The value of these medical advances is measured person by person, milestone by milestone. Our guiding principle at MLIWI is, ‘We are not average.’”
Proud to be known as “the ONLY Marathon with a Summer Brewfest,” the Vancouver USA Marathon course runs along the Columbia River, with scenic parks and green trails, and it’s only 10 minutes from downtown Portland, Oregon. http://www.vancouverusamarathon.com/
The Vancouver USA Marathon will be Don’s 97th overall and his 6th in 2016. Ardis Wright, Don’s loving wife of 53 years and their daughter Sarah accompany him and will run the half marathon on Sunday.
Don says, “I always look forward to a well-earned invigorating beer after each marathon. It looks like this marathon and I were meant for each other.”
IMPORTANT LINKS:
www.facebook.com/eRaceCancer
www.twitter.com/eRaceCancer
www.mylifeisworthit.org
