Embarking on their fourth Workout to Conquer Cancer — and the second since losing their 15-year-old namesake — Miles for Myles is even more determined to move every day in May to improve outcomes for other families facing cancer.
In 2022, when Myles Lindsay set his family’s Workout to Conquer Cancer fundraising goal at $100,000, his mom Lana admits she was initially surprised at the enormous number. “But there was no way we could say no,” she says, considering all that he’d bravely overcome over the past two years.
Myles began experiencing stomach issues in the fall of 2020. Instead of enjoying his first year of high school in West Vancouver, or doing what he loved — boating, fishing or anything that involved hanging with his two older brothers, Matthew and Cole and his twin, Nathan — he was vomiting several times a day and lost 20 pounds. In March, he was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with Stage 4 diffused gastric carcinoma, a stomach cancer rarely found in young people.
“None of us knew how to help,” says Myles’ Aunt Susan. “We’d heard of Workout to Conquer Cancer, so we decided to form a team.” To distract and support Myles, who was undergoing chemotherapy, and to give his large family something positive to focus on, they set a fundraising goal of $20,000.
“We reached it in the first few days,” says Susan. By the end of the month they’d raised $92,000.
Naturally, Myles was eager to beat their record in 2022. “He said, ‘It’s only $8,000 more than last year, what’s the big deal?’” laughs Lana.
Determined to meet the goal before Myles had surgery to remove the tumour and his stomach at the end of May, his family pulled out all the stops. Buckets for Myles, a student-led basketball fundraiser at Rockridge Secondary was created. Four of his cousins committed to walking 100,000 steps — one for every dollar they hoped to raise. This included a “special route” of Myles choosing around the hospital. Mapped out it was clearly in the shape of a penis, recalls Lana. “What can I say, he was a teenage boy.”
Myles Lindsay was only 15 when he passed away from a rare stomach cancer.
On the morning of his surgery, we told him we’d surpassed his goal and had raised $225,000, says Lana. “He was so proud, and wanted to know when his share would arrive in his bank account,” she laughs.
The surgery went well. “We were ecstatic,” says Lana. Eight hours later Myles was rushed to the ICU. He died on June 1, 2022.
“Last May, Workout to Conquer Cancer was very challenging, not being able to share our goals and achievements with Myles. But he never gave up. He was so strong. We needed to be strong as well.”
Miles for Myles took up the torch with some old and new initiatives in 2023. In Myles’ honour, his brother Matthew ran 69 km (another nod to Myles’ sense of humour) and he meticulously wove through neighbourhoods to ensure his route was once again one that would make Myles smile.
In three years, Miles for Myles has raised more than $420,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation to fuel life-saving research and care, specifically for PROFYLE (Precision Oncology for Young People), the young adult arm of the Personalized Onco-Genomics (POG) program.
The goal for 2024’s Workout to Conquer Cancer challenge is to raise another $179,219 to bring their four-year total to an incredible $600,000 — a number that would have blown Myles away.
“We talk about him every day,” says Susan, “but as we head into the month of May, it’s all about Miles for Myles. What we’re going to do? How we’re going to raise money? We have lots of family meetings.”
“Workout to Conquer is a way to keep Myles close, to make him proud, to make his terrible journey with cancer not be completely in vain,” she adds. “It’s a way to honour and cherish all of our memories of Myles and get out there and do something to make a difference for other families.”
What has really impressed the family is how enthusiastically the kids have embraced the fundraising challenge. “Myles was one of 15 cousins. He and his twin brother were the youngest and they ranged up to 31 years old when Myles first got sick,” says Susan.
“They’ve taken it to a whole new level. It’s an incredible gift to watch young people in their teens, 20s, and early 30s be inspired to go out into their communities and take up the mantle to say that this is important: to fight cancer, we must raise dollars for research. It’s what Myles would have wanted; it’s his legacy.”
Donate today to help Myles’ family reach their goal of raising $600,000 to help other family’s facing cancer.
