Christopher Warren with his grandmother and five-year breast cancer survivor Phyllis Isaacs.
Christopher Warren was sitting in the library at Florida Coastal School of Law in August 2009 when he received a call from his mother informing him that his grandmother would be going in for surgery after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Warren’s grandmother, Phyllis Isaacs is now a five year cancer survivor, and Warren is training for a 150 mile charity bike ride to raise funds for cancer research and treatment in her honor.
This marks the first year the Ride to Conquer Cancer, a global fundraising initiative that has collected over $240 million for cancer research since 2008, will be held in the capital region, according to event coordinators. Proceeds collected from this year’s ride, which will stretch from Baltimore to D.C., will benefit the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, Sibley Memorial and Suburban Hospitals, going towards research and treatment.
Nationally, cancer is second only to heart disease among causes of death for African Americans, according to the Center for Disease Control website. In the case of breast cancer, Black women are 10 percent less likely to be diagnosed with the disease than their White counterparts, but 40 percent more likely to die as a result, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health.
Five years after surgery, Isaacs is cancer free, having defeated a disease that has devastated countless households. Warren, who took up cycling one year ago at the behest of his Alpha Phi Alpha brethren, is now working to collect the minimum $2500 in donations to participate in this year’s Ride to Conquer Cancer.
“When I found out about , I can’t even really describe how I felt, I just knew I had to get there as soon as possible,” Warren said.
Warren was entering his third year of law school when he received the news, and immediately left the library and booked a plane ticket to Maryland, where Isaacs had moved around 2008.
“I surprised my grandmother the next morning. When she woke up, I was lying on the couch,” he said.
“I was just happy that I was there to support her.”
Isaacs would go on to recover from her bout with cancer, and Warren would complete his law degree in 2010. Now an attorney in Morristown, N.J., Warren is actively training for the charity ride that will take place over the course of two days, Sept. 13-14; going to the gym three days a week and cycling on weekends. He is also raising funds towards the $2500 minimum to participate.
“Everything that I raise goes to fighting cancer, so even if I don’t meet the minimum to participate in the actual ride, I’m still happy that I was involved in this event because everything I raise goes to fighting this disease, which is the whole purpose of it,” said Warren.
Anyone interested in signing up to participate in the charity ride may do so at www.ridetovictory.org. Organizers stress the event is not a race, and that no one should be dissuaded from participating on that account.
Donations may be made directly to Warren by clicking on the ‘Donate’ option under the ‘Join The Conquest’ tab on the event’s home page and searching for Warren by his full name (Christopher Warren).
“I would love to participate in the ride and have my grandma cheering for me at the finish line because I know she’ll be there,” said Warren.
ralejandro@afro.com
