Ovarian Cancer Walk of Hope stirs up emotion in Guelph
Known as a silent killer, over 3,000 Canadians are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, most of them in the late stages. A walk to raise awareness, funds and hope took place at the Guelph Arboretum Sunday morning.
“There’s not a lot of hope given, particularly if it’s a late stage diagnosis, you get the ‘up to five years survival,’” said Frances Vanover, Guelph-Kitchener-Waterloo Walk of Hope co-chair.
While a cancer diagnosis is scary, the Ovarian Cancer Walk of Hope aims to help alieve that fear. Vanover is proof survival rates aren’t set in stone.
“When I was first diagnosed 15 years ago, I think there were five Canadian scientists working on ovarian cancer. Now there’s over 60,” she said.
Some of those scientists are at the University of Guelph. Cancer researcher and professor of biomedical sciences, Jim Petrik, is developing ways to enhance the delivery of therapies to cancer tumors.
“Tumors, notoriously, are very difficult to get therapies into,” said Petrik. “We’ve developed a way in which we can open up the blood vessels that supply the tumor and we can get a dramatic increase in the uptake in the efficiency of therapies such as chemo therapies, viruses, and immune therapies. We are focusing on advanced stage cancers.”
For families like the Richards, the walk offers a chance to tackle the disease side by side.
“I had my treatment at Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton, and shout out to them, they were amazing,” said Lesley Richards.
Vanover said efforts like Sunday’s walk aren’t only raising money for treatments, but also awareness of the warning signs to watch for.
“Because the symptoms are all things that woman pass off quite easily, you know, frequent urination, bloating, they are all common symptoms,” Vanover explained.
This year, the local walk raised more than $40,000, while 30 more events took place across the country. Families like the Richards don’t just walk for hope, they can actually have it.
“Knowing that these guys, hopefully my nieces, my granddaughter, my daughter, don't ever have to endure it, it would be nice if they could catch it early and do something about it,” said Richards.
The Richards family were Sunday’s top fundraiser bringing in almost $12,000.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.