OLMSTED FALLS, Ohio — Cancer can be a devastating diagnosis at any age, and one northeast Ohio family knows that all too well.
After beating a rare pediatric strain of the disease, a teen and his mom are now helping other families avoid the same fate. They joined hundreds of bicyclists Saturday for an annual event, using pedal power to help fund a cure to cancer.
Owen Timuras was preparing for more than just a bike ride. Every push of the pedal has a purpose.
“So no one has to go through what me and all the others on the back of my shirt had to go through,” he said.
Timuras was preparing for VeloSano Bike to Cure, an annual event to raise funds for cancer research at Cleveland Clinic. He rode with his mom, Wren.
“The first year I was done with chemo, I think we just watched outside the race and my mom was like, ‘we should do this next year,’ and I was like, ‘I was thinking the same thing,’” Owen said.
Owen noticed a lump on his body at age 8.
Doctors diagnosed it as non-Hodgkin anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a rare form of cancer found in only 1% of children.
“Just pure shock,” Wren said. “Just shock. And then ‘OK, what are we doing? How are we gonna take care of this?’”
Wren documented Owen’s journey from discovery to a clean bill of health in two packed photo albums.
“But I mean, they’re hard to look at sometimes,” she said.
Now 16, Owen sees the pictures through a different lens.
“A checkpoint saying you did this, accomplished this,” he said. “You can do anything else really you put your mind to.”
This is the seventh year Owen and Wren rode in the event.
“I think when we first started, I was probably this tall,” Owen said. “Now I can see over her head, so.”
They took part in honor of friends and family who’ve faced the disease, including Owen’s grandmother, who lost her own cancer battle earlier this year.
“More important to find a cure,” Wren said.
The Timuras said the Olmsted Falls community’s compassion is helping fuel their mission.
“It’s amazing each time we get donations that come in,” Wren said. “We’re just so appreciative of people that continue to support what we want to do.”
The mother/son team raised more than $61,000 as of Friday for the fight against cancer.
“It’s something I have never seen before,” Owen said. “It’s just a crazy amount of money to think that like, over seven years, we’ve been able to do so much in such little time.”
They’re supporting the clinic’s lifesaving mission, hoping to make a difference by paying it forward.
“Keep going until they find a cure,” Owen said. “I think that’s what we gotta keep hoping for.”
The Cleveland Clinic said 100% of every dollar donated to VeloSano directly supports cancer research.
This is the 10th year for the bike-to-cure event, which has raised more than $37 million and advanced over 220 cancer research projects so far.
