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Canary Challenge Featured Team: X-Ray Ninjas – Part 2

September 17, 2014

To give you more insight on the motivation for this team that raised $75,000 for early cancer detection, we thought it would be interesting to share a few stories from this teams riders. Rusty Hofmann, the co-captain of Team X-RAY NINJAS, attributes the survival of his son Grady to cancer research. Grady was diagnosed with aplastic anemia at age 10 and received a bone marrow transplant from his father. The cancer research done in the bone marrow transplant field saved Rusty’s sons life, and now he rides to raise awareness to the cause.

Another outstanding rider, Dr. Nishita Kothary, is riding with her husband and two kids, as a tribute to her family, friends, and colleagues that have been affected by cancer. She says,

“10 more years… Imagine the gift of 10 more years after hearing the big, ugly C word.  Unfortunately, today that gift is rare – a vast majority of patients live a few months past their diagnosis. Early detection can change that. 10 more years for a parent translates to giving your kids the foundation to be a good human being. 10 more years means a parent could watch his or her child graduate and go to prom. 10 more years may mean living to hold your grandchild.  We may not be able to cure cancer in this lifetime, but we definitely have a shot at early detection, early treatment and loving life longer.”

Just as Nishita says, early detection has the ability to give people 10 more years to live. It is possible, especially thanks to the amazing doctors and nurses that help treat cancer patients on a daily basis. We are extremely thankful for the effort that this team has put into the Canary Challenge and to their work at the Stanford School of Medicine. See you in a few weeks, X-RAY NINJAS!

This team made their own website to highlight the work that they’ve done for the Canary Challenge, and you can see it here.