Nick Geddes has many things in common with Terry Fox.
Like the Port Coquitlam hometown hero, Geddes is an athlete, having won numerous awards as a downhill mountain biker with his sponsor Norco, which has its headquarters in PoCo.
And like Fox, he was also in his teens when he got the shock of his life: He had cancer.
In April 2011, Geddes was competing in the Sea Otter Classic Dual Slalom in California when he crashed. All year, the Whistler resident had been sick off and on with ear problems, pneumonia, colds and stomach flus.
Before the race, Geddes had been tired - a friend even told him he looked like a ghost - but he managed to make it into the finals when the accident happened in the second round.
Medical staff onsite whisked him to a hospital in Monterey, where his heart rate was recorded at 120 beats per minute in the first check-up. Geddes waited three hours to hear the blood test results.
Then, he was transferred to Stanford Hospital, where he was diagnosed with t-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
"It was pretty debilitating news," recalled Geddes, who had no family history of cancer.
He spent three days in hospital before being allowed to return home, where he was immediately escorted from the airport to BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver.
Geddes endured a month of chemotherapy and, on Aug. 9, 2011, he underwent a bone marrow transplant; doctors told him he would likely not race in the 2012 season. Soon afterwards, Geddes started his Grade 12 year while continuing to get treatment. He also lost his hair.
Today, Geddes is "still not 100% for an athlete" but is considered to be in remission, he said. Earlier this year, he backpacked around Australia before riding in New Zealand. In April, he was at the first BC Cup (where he clinched third place) and, over the summer, he raced at events such as last week's Crankworx Mountain Bike Festival in Whistler, the largest cycling event in North America.
And this month, he starts his studies towards earning an engineering degree at the University of BC.
On Sunday, Geddes will be the keynote speaker at the Terry Fox Run in Coquitlam at the recommendation of Norco marketing manager Peter Stace-Smith, who has been a major booster of Geddes by raising funds for BC Children's Hospital oncology ward; he has even shaved his head in support of the factory's star rider.
Geddes will talk about his cancer journey at the Fox run. "I'd like to provide some inspiration and hope to those who are going through treatment, or have been diagnosed, that you can always pop out on the other side and still have a really good life," he said. "It's not all doom and gloom."
As well, Geddes will parallel his story with Fox's, a Canadian legend who started training for his cross-country Marathon of Hope in 1979, at the same age Geddes is now, 19.
Growing up, Geddes took part in Terry Fox runs at school and was reminded every September about how Fox aimed to beat cancer. "It definitely hits home when you've got it too," Geddes said. "Terry was out there raising money for research and that's right up my alley. Treatment plans change so quickly these days for cancer patients and that's because of the research that Terry fought for."
TRI-CITY FOX RUNS
The Tri-Cities is hosting four Terry Fox Runs on Sunday, Sept. 16:
the Hometown Run in Port Coquitlam (Hyde Creek rec centre, 10 a.m. start);
Coquitlam (Blue Mountain Park, noon start);
Port Moody (Rocky Point Park, 10 a.m. start);
and Anmore (village hall, noon start).
For more information on the runs or to donate to the Terry Fox Foundation, visit terryfox.org.
