Why I PMC - Maddie Mitchell

Why We PMC

We ride in honor of my strong and courageous mother.

The past few years, we have done the PMC together as a family: my father, Bart, a 13-year PMC veteran, began riding in memory of a friend who passed away too young shortly after being diagnosed with lung cancer. My dad recruited my sister (Lydia, age 23) and me (Maddie, age 25) to join him a few years ago and, like so many other PMC riders, we’re hooked. During our first three rides together, I saw so many riders with photos and names of dear friends and relatives attached to their backs. I saw one cyclist riding his son’s childhood bike in his son’s memory, and another rider crushing that first day pre-lunch hill with only one leg (you know which hill I’m talking about!). Their stories inspired and motivated me. I rode for relatives of relatives and friends of friends. I rode for the 5-year-old fans holding signs stating ‘You saved my life.’ I rode to raise money to fund the search for a cure. Riding the PMC made me understand and care about the vast need for cancer research and treatment, but it also made me appreciate how lucky I was that I, nor my closest family and friends, had not been personally affected by the disease.

Bart, Maddie, & Lydia at starting line on Day 1 of PMC 2015

The PMC became incredibly personal for us when my mom was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in October 2014, only a couple of months after I had completed my third PMC. The PMC suddenly meant something entirely new to my family. We spent day after day at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute buildings we had never been in before. We walked down the PMC bridge and visited the healing garden. We met numerous DFCI doctors, some of whom are fellow PMC riders. We learned what chemo really is, and we saw with our own eyes its toxic effects on the delicate human body. We helped my mom try on wigs and scarves. Under the incredible care of her Dana-Farber doctors, Dr. Richard Stone, Dr. Ofir Wolaj, Dr. Vincent Ho, and nurse practitioner Lisa Stewart, my mom underwent chemo and then a stem cell transplant on New Year’s Eve 2014, during which she received cells donated by her sister.

For last year’s PMC, we formed Team Mama Love with 15 of our dearest friends. We rode in honor of my mother and another close family friend who was also being treated for cancer. Our team – on which 13 of 18 riders were under age 25 – raised over $100,000 last year.

Team Mama Love - PMC 2015

I still ride for relatives of relatives and I still ride for the 5-year old fans – but now, I ride first and foremost for my mom. My mom’s treatment at Dana-Farber was successful and her doctors and nurses there were, and continue to be, incredible. After a year of recovery at home, she is now back at work as of January and is doing fabulous. We cannot thank Dana-Farber enough.

Mom & Maddie - Fall 2015 - mom feeling healthy and looking great!

The past year and a half have taught our family that two crucial elements of the fight against cancer are hope and laughter (and peanut butter & fluff sandwiches). The PMC gives riders and volunteers exactly that. Our family cannot wait to ride in many PMCs in the years to come.