Our Goal:
To raise $1,000,000 for
research and public education
about prostate cancer.
research and public education
about prostate cancer.
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| Our Goal: To raise $1,000,000 for research and public education about prostate cancer. | |
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John Loesing, Project Director Dr. Terry Weyman, Founder |
PROSTATE CANCER CLIMB
Climbing Against Cancer 70-mile per hour winds, snow pelting your face at 20,000 feet above sea level - sound like a vacation? That's exactly where a Watertown man feels at home. But the toughest obstacle he's had to overcome is one thousands of men deal with every year: prostate cancer. 56-year-old Bruce Hestad climbed his first mountain in 1999, but only a year later he got bad news. He had cancer. Now his battle against the disease is forcing him to climb to new heights. Hestad's family will tell you he's never been one to let life pass him by. "He's always had kind of an adventurous spirit," remarks his wife Colleen. So when he told his family he was going to climb mountains, they weren't surprised. Bruce's nephew Jim has climbed with his uncle three times, "He's a fun hog, and he has to get that fix, he just has to go have fun." But his hiking hobby was in danger of being taken away. In 2000 Bruce was diagnosed with prostate cancer. After surgery he thought he had it beat, but it came back. Now he's determined not to let the disease slow him down. Hestad explains his quest, "We're trying to show that just because you have cancer, it doesn't mean that life's over. You can do a lot of things." This fall he's hoping to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro . He'll be climbing with a group of cancer survivors to raise awareness and raise money for cancer research. "We'll leave at midnight," outlines Hestad, "And head to the summit and we should get there by 7, 8:00 in the morning and apparently the sunrise off Kilimanjaro is one of the best in the world." Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa, standing 19,400 feet. It'll be a tough climb, but Hestad is no stranger to high places. He's been to the top of three different mountains in the U.S. But training for this next climb is hard to do in South Dakota. "There's not too many mountains around here," explains Bruce, "So we bike a lot and we lift weights." Bruce's family says that determination to reach the top will help him to climb his biggest mountain. "He's always been a wonderful man," adds his wife Colleen, "But I think he's dug down and he's an even better man. Something good comes from everything." Hestad will leave for Africa September 12th and will be gone for two weeks. Hestad has been trying some new procedures to treat his cancer, and the prognosis is good. Doctors are telling him to keep climbing. If you'd like more information on prostate cancer or the cancer climb
visit, www.prostatecancerclimb.com -- To reach Chris Studer e-mail cstuder@ksfy.com
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