After injury during Ride to Conquer Cancer, B.C. resident is determined to ride again

This past summer’s Ride to Conquer Cancer is one a father and daughter from Langley will likely never forget.

Alana Pirro and her father Jeff Carwithen, a prostate cancer survivor, were among the thousands who took part in the ride the weekend of August 29 to 30–the same weekend a powerful windstorm swept across the Lower Mainland and parts of the West Coast.

For Pirro, memories of the last time she was on her bike are still a blur. She remembers the thoughts racing through her mind and hearing the loud crack of a tree, but her father will never forget what he saw.

“I just thought that tree’s coming down and it’s going to hit the road and it’s going to hit the road in front of us,” he said.  “I thought that we could dodge this tree and the next thing you know–crash! I looked over and Alana’s under the tree and she’s face down on the road.”

Pirro was pinned under a tree. She was rushed to hospital, where doctors initially thought she’d only broken her shoulder. However, further scans quickly revealed she’d actually broken her back–a serious injury that she’s now recovering from. Doctors have told her it could have been much worse.

The new lease on life is driving the pair to do even more to help others conquer cancer.

“I think something like the ride empowers you to say OK I can’t be in that beside you going through what you’re going through, but I can do this and I can raise some money and maybe I can make a change for the next person who might be in that spot,” said Pirro.

UPDATE: Norco and Caps Bicycles have donated a $1500 Valence bicycle.