‘I Joined As A Survivor After My Third Breast Cancer Diagnosis,’ Says Rimona From Alive Challenge
A three-time survivor of breast cancer is one of the women that’s part of the Alive charity foundation, with the next challenge coming up in May, a whopping 1,000km in 6 days.
“I joined Alive in 2014 as a cancer survivor following my third diagnosis of breast cancer. As soon as I joined I was attracted by the enthusiasm of the founding members and cyclists,” Rimona told Lovin Malta.
“During that year I joined the backup team to support the cyclists during their training and later I was trusted with the finances of the Alive charity foundation,” she said.
Rimona with her two daughters and parents
Where did it all begin?
“I was diagnosed at the age of 30 with cancer and had it three times over a span of ten years,” she explained.
“Thanks to the ongoing worldwide research in breast cancer, during my last diagnosis I could take an additional treatment with chemo which helped me survive. Joining Alive meant that I could assist in research by collecting funds to find better and more effective treatments. Hoping that one day, cancer patients will be given a cure rather than a treatment,” she said.
Asked how she herself had found out about the Alive challenge, Rimona explained how one of her close friends participated in the Alive challenge back in 2013.
“Since the foundation was donating the funds gathered in 2013 and 2014 for research on breast cancer, I was asked to be a speaker at the participants’ meetings,” she explained.
Rimona's first talk with Alive in February 2014
The challenge
“This is not a holiday for the participants and nor for the organising committee. The cyclists face many challenges before the challenge even starts. They have to train approximately three hours per day during the week and another six hours on a Saturday and Sunday,” she said.
“This is a huge sacrifice as participants have to be away from their families and all while the actual challenge hasn’t even started,” she explained.
“Another challenge is collecting funds which the committee and the cyclists have to do while going to work and doing the training,” she said.
The participants of the Alive challenge are all individually required to raise a certain sum of money prior to the challenge, which will all go for cancer research.
“Once they start the challenge they face mental and physical stress. They have to cycle as a team and reach the next destination over 160km per day for six consecutive days, which means over eight hours of cycling daily,” she said.
“Who does this for a holiday?” she said humorously.
Rimona also expressed how the motivation and drive seen in the cyclists in turn also motivates her to train, even though she is not a part of the cycling team.
“When I see the cyclists so motivated and doing all that training for this cause they encourage me to do some training myself,” she expressed.
“I am proud to be part of the foundation and such a great team. As a survivor I would like to thank the sponsors and the cyclists past and present for their efforts and dedication in collecting these funds,” Rimona said.
Rimona with her teammates
Why you need to donate
“Due to the pandemic during the last two years, we had to stop the challenges and as a consequence, no donations were collected – but cancer did not stop in these two years,” Rimona said.
“If we all donate something small, I am sure that with the generosity of the general public we will manage to do more cancer research at the University of Malta.
The Alive charity foundation is the first voluntary organization that raises funds for cancer research. Alive was founded back in 2013 by a group of five friends that had a passion for cycling. They turned their passion for cycling into an NGO to organise cycling challenges to reach their goals.
These challenges turned out to be very fruitful as through its participants, the foundation managed to donate over €600,000 to RIDT at the University of Malta, to fund cancer research.
Rimona with her two daughters
Lovin Malta had also spoken to Kenneth Caruana, one of the organisers from the Alive charity foundation, as well as Brian Vella, a survivor and a challenge participant himself.
For those interested in donating to the Alive charity foundation, please visit their website www.alivecharity.com or do so through mobile to mobile banking at 9999 9654
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