Rosslander/RDKB Finance Manager Swaps Calculator for Cycling in Epic Cancer Fundraiser
By RDKB
Anouschka Riverin, finance manager with the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, will be swapping her calculator for cycling when she takes on the ‘Tour de Cure’ 100-km fundraising bike ride in Chilliwack later this month.
Her team, ‘Just Beat it’, hopes to complete the epic, in-person cycling challenge in under five hours and has raised nearly $2,000 to help the BC Cancer Foundation break down the disease through lifesaving research and enhancements to care.
Three of the Rosslander’s closest outdoor adventure buddies will join her on BC’s biggest cycling fundraiser when she saddles up on Saturday, Aug. 27. Together they will be fuelled and motivated by the ‘generosity of colleagues at the RDKB’ who have been donating to it throughout her event training.
“Helping to change the stigma around cancer has been a learning experience filled with constant personal growth,” says Anouschka, who is a cancer survivor and openly shares her story when prompted by colleagues and friends. Diagnosed with advanced Stage 4 colon cancer metastasized to her liver in November 2020, the BC Cancer Foundation played a major role in her recovery. It takes a whole team to break away from cancer and the players in Anouschka’s have been vast: The oncology team, Dr. Scotland and Dr. Schumacher at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital; her nurses and Dr. Eeason at Kelowna General; the radiation team and Dr. Liu at Vancouver’s BC Cancer Agency and her family doctor Dr.Jonas Sandstrom.
“I’m so grateful to everyone who has supported me over the last couple of years as well as the kindness and generosity of my colleagues at the RDKB. This cause is very personal to me but it affects everyone – nearly one in two Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer, and one in four will die from the disease,” adds Anouschka.
Looking the picture of health, you wouldn’t expect Anouschka’s journey to have involved 12 rounds of chemotherapy, short-course radiation therapy and three surgeries in 2021 alone. Apart from a small bump just below her right clavicle, beneath which lies a power port tube to her heart, there is little evidence on the outside of her scuffle with cancer. Her chemo tube is flushed monthly, and it remains in place as a constant reminder that remission is unlikely to last. She is very upbeat about it all and the team will be celebrating the fundraising event at the Waterpark afterwards.
“My biggest concern is for my butt! I’m going to be on that saddle for a long stretch,” adds Anouschka who has been clocking over 100km every week as part of her training regime and regularly commutes up and down the hill from Rossland to RDKB’s headquarters in Trail.
Help bring hope to cancer patients in British Columbia, power research and find new cures by donating online: tourdecure.ca/fundraiser/justbeatit Your generosity will also help ‘Just Beat It’ reach their $7500 fundraising goal and motivate them throughout the Tour De Cure: (Link: Anouschka Riverin – The Tour de Cure | BC Cancer Foundation)
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