Crystal Medrano
Co-Editor
Some would say that biking 4,500 miles across the country right after finishing cancer treatment is impossible. Not Cristal Ortega.
Cristal Ortega, Class of 2017 and now a graduate student in the School of Social Work, biked 4,500 miles across the United States from Baltimore to San Francisco in 70 days to raise money for young adults impacted by cancer.
Ortega is a cancer survivor with no biking experience whatsoever, and wanted to give back to those in need. She wanted to accomplish something that many people believed she could not accomplish, given that she had just finished chemotherapy nine months earlier.
Ortega biked across the country for the program 4K for Cancer through the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. There were three cycling groups and Ortega was in team “San Francisco” meaning that all three teams; Oregon, Seattle and San Francisco started in Baltimore, Maryland and ended up in their respective states.
Ortega alone fundraised $7,500 for this trip which went directly to the services provided through the 4K for Cancer program given to the Ulman Cancer Fund. Services include support services for patients and survivors, and college scholarships. In total between all three teams, they awarded 12 scholarships and delivered 280 chemo care packages to 30 cancer organizations covering 22,676 miles. They raised $785,122 overall.
The teams would cover miles every day. Every morning before biking, Ortega said they would get in “dedication circles” where every team member dedicated their day of biking to one specific person.
“I would dedicate my days to people who had passed away from cancer or cancer survivors and current cancer patients,” she said. “We would write the names of the individuals on our calves so when we were slowing down and felt like giving up, they were the motivation that helped us stay true to our cause.”
Ortega related her cycling journey to her cancer experience because of the losses, strengths and realization that they both brought.
“I started out with 24 teammates and by the time we got to San Francisco, I ended up with 20 due to people getting injured or quitting,” she said “when I got diagnosed, I became friends with a lot of other cancer patients and our dream was to reach the ultimate goal: to be cancer free. Not everyone crossed that finish line when we got to San Francisco and not all of my friends made it to the ultimate goal. I lost a lot along the way but in the end, it’s important that I made it and I am able to use that experience to help others.”
Out of the whole trip, the memory that impacted Ortega the most was when her team gave out the first scholarship to a girl named Erin.
“She was going to be a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis and seeing her so happy made me see myself in her, I saw the fire in her eyes when she looked at me knowing that she could do whatever she wanted. I motivated her,” Ortega said.
Two little details that made Cristal’s experience that much better was that she ended up celebrating her one year “cancerversary” during her trip, “That just shows that if I could do it, anybody could do it. I went in with no biking experience, one of the slowest on the team and left that journey being one of the fastest. By the end I was able to bike with no hands while blowing bubbles at the same time. I also biked over a volcano!”
Ortega’s incredible story will motivate anyone and if there’s one message that she wants all of us to hear it’s this:
“Do what scares you! Don’t be afraid to take chances, there were so many teammates that would get hurt and I would get so scared and nervous because there were people that did not believe in me, but that motivated me even more and I finished! If you love the cause you are doing something for, it makes it that much more rewarding.”
If you want to learn a little more about Ortega’s story, she will be a speaker at this years Caritas Veritas Symposium on Sept. 26. Her lecture will be titled “Truth, Hope and A Mission: Cristal’s 4K for Cancer’s Coast To Coast Journey in Support of Young Adults with Cancer.”
If anyone is interested in following Cristal’s footsteps and making a difference in the world, there are applications now open on
www.4kforcancer.org.
medrcrys@my.dom.edu