Motorcycle Ride for Dad raises $600K for prostate cancer research

Hundreds of riders took to the streets of Winnipeg on Saturday for the annual Manitoba Motorcycle Ride for Dad, raising more than half a million dollars for prostate cancer research.

The 17th annual event began at Polo Park shopping centre before heading west along Portage Avenue to Assiniboia Downs. Riders continued through the communities of Selkirk and Gimli before crossing the finish line in Winnipeg.

The event was part of a six-week campaign to spread awareness and education about prostate cancer in the province. A statement late Saturday said the effort raised $600,000, bringing the event's 17-year total to $5.7 million.

"It's simply amazing. It just blows me away. This ride has never ceased to amaze me," said spokesperson Ed Johner, who survived prostate cancer himself but lost his father and uncle to the disease.

"The generosity of Manitobans and the hard work and the effort — like our entire executive, our volunteers, our pledged donors, the riders, you know, our corporate sponsors — it's incredible what we've accomplished."

Johner was diagnosed with prostate and kidney cancer after a routine exam ahead of cataract surgery in 2007, when he was 49. He said he had no symptoms at the time, crediting the proactive check to a diligent physician.

He's been cancer-free since surgery to remove his prostate and a third of his kidney. The ride organizer said he hears stories about early detection from other men throughout the ride, but on other days, too.

"The ones that stick out the most are having perfect strangers walk up to me and shake my hand and thank me for saving their life. And I know what's happened to other guys on our executives, too. Those are the ones that stick with you," Johner told The Weekend Morning Show host Nadia Kidwai

'Emotional experience'

"It's a very emotional experience to have this happen … early detection is so critical, just so critical," he added.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian men, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. The organization estimates one in eight Canadian men will develop the cancer at some point during their lifetime and that one in 30 will lose his life.

Dr. Laurence Klotz, a urologic oncologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and chair of prostate cancer research at the Toronto hospital, said patients with metastatic prostate cancer — meaning it's spread to other parts of the body — live "roughly twice as long now as they did 10 or 15 years ago, which is really a significant achievement."

"The disease can be controlled, often for a long time," Klotz told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of the CBC podcast The Dose.

The fundraising rides take place in other provinces and territories across Canada. Johner said the money raised in Manitoba will go toward research at the Genomic Centre for Prostate Cancer Research in Winnipeg.