It was Saturday, December 3, 2011, and my mom was a week away from dying of lung cancer.  She had been battling this disease for the past nine months, and so I promised Mom I would do something.

Since Mom’s diagnosis, our family had learned startling and jarring facts about lung cancer, including that it kills more people in the world, U.S., and each state than any other cancer. We experienced the stigma that lung cancer patients face by always being asked, “Did she smoke?” We also learned that the five-year survival rate for lung cancer patients is about 20 percent while prostate (over 90 percent), breast (over 80 percent), and colorectal (over 60 percent) had much better outcomes.

So, the more I learned, the more I knew I had to do something.

I had gone through so many emotions since hearing the words “lung cancer,” including shock, despair, sadness, frustration — and anger. One thing I knew for sure was that I had to turn that anger into something positive.

In 2017, that promise to Mom manifested into a bike ride across the country. I called my 3,553-mile, 52-day journey “Ride Hard Breathe Easy” — and raised over $93,000 for lung cancer research for the nonprofit GO2 for Lung Cancer. In 2019, my family and I switched gears, established our own nonprofit, and began cycling and fundraising to help pay real-life expenses for lung cancer patients. Once again, we named ourselves “Ride Hard Breathe Easy.”

During these times, some people are desperate, and we are there to pay for a ride to an appointment, take care of a utility bill, alleviate food insecurity, or buy them a wig.

Since that change, we have reached individual patients by partnering with eight hospitals — Crozer Health, Dartmouth Cancer Center, Duke Cancer Institute, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Jefferson Health, Johns Hopkins, Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center and Temple Health. Each institution told us they had never received funding focused only on lung cancer patients. They said patients and caregivers really need help right now, help with the sorts of things health insurance doesn’t cover, help with day-to-day life.

During these times, some people are desperate, and we are there to pay for a ride to an appointment, take care of a utility bill, alleviate food insecurity, or buy them a wig. Our hospital partners see the need, and we provide the help.

To date, we have helped over 2,000 patients, and heard numerous heartwarming stories from each hospital. There was a patient from Temple who said, “You saved my life by providing me a way to the hospital.” A Fox Chase Cancer Center patient shared, “I am a 52-year-old woman with lung cancer who had to give up working as a home health aide. Your generosity paid for my rent and some groceries, providing incredible relief.” A doctor at Duke Cancer Institute told us, “Without Ride Hard Breathe Easy, my patient, his wife and son would have been evicted from their apartment.”

“Don’t manage your fears, expand your comfort zone.” — Isabella de la Houssaye

One of the most important things I learned was that anyone with lungs can get lung cancer. Smoking certainly increases your risk — 15 to 30-fold. But people who have never smoked still get the disease. My dear friend Isabella de la Houssaye never smoked, never drank and was an endurance athlete. Lung cancer took her life in December. Her words of encouragement, “Don’t manage your fears, expand your comfort zone” apply to our cycling fundraisers.

So, for the past eight years, I have ridden my bike over Labor Day weekend to raise money for lung cancer patients. Every day of the ride is fun, exhausting, and exhilarating. The fun part is riding with friends or new friends. You really get to know people when you spend five days riding, talking, and eating ice cream. Exhausting is obvious, because it’s simply a challenge to do this ride. And when you finish and you have raised money and you have helped patients, there is no better feeling in the world.

Since 2019, we have had over 200 people join us for our rides. Some have ridden 15 miles, while others have ridden as many as 1,500. I have personally ridden over 10,000 miles during these rides. Most importantly, we have raised over $600,000 during these rides, and overall as a nonprofit we have raised over $900,000.

This year, four friends and I will begin at Jefferson Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia, where my mom was treated 13 long years ago. Our first stop will be Margate, NJ, then, Harrington, DE, Baltimore, MD, Christiana, DE, and finally back to Conshohocken Brewing Company, where we will drink beer.

The ride will take five days and cover more than 425 miles. It’s not as ambitious as riding cross country. However, when you are 62 years old like me, it is still a challenge. And I am often asked: Wouldn’t you rather be eating a burger, drinking a beer, and sitting on the beach?

Truthfully, I would not. Outside of family and friends, this nonprofit and the work we do validates my renewed purpose since losing my mother to this terrible disease. I get to do something so meaningful, get to do it with people I love, and we get to bring joy into the lives of patients and their families. What could be better? (And besides, the food and beer at the end of that ride on Labor Day always are that much more satisfying!)

Growing up, I went to a high school, Saint Joseph’s Prep, that emphasized the importance of “being a man for others.” At home, my sister, four brothers and I saw Mom and Dad live a life of helping others. And mom was famous for many Irish sayings, and the one that stuck with my siblings and me is, “Many hands make light work.” This saying captures the essence of who we are and is so dear to everyone at Ride Hard Breathe Easy. We never want anyone to feel alone on this journey.

If you want to help us help a patient, go to rhbe.org and donate. Who knows, your support may cover that next Uber ride to treatment that will save someone’s life.

John Matthews is the founder of Ride Hard Breathe Easy, a nonprofit he created in memory of his mother who died of lung cancer. John is also an Adjunct Instructor at Temple University where he teaches Introduction to Public Speaking.

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