Chrissie Abfalter has donated money to cancer fundraisers on numerous occasions but when she participates in the Run for a Cure this fall it will be the first time she has done so as a cancer survivor.
And she won’t do it alone.
In May, the 27-year-old Coquitlam resident was diagnosed with breast cancer. The cancer was non-invasive and slow growing, she said, but her best treatment option was a double mastectomy, a surgery from which she is currently recovering.
“When they told me it was breast cancer, I was shocked,” Abfalter told The Tri-City News. “It took a week for me to actually take it all in.”
Since her surgery last month, she has been spending most of her days at home resting. But by Oct. 2, Abfalter said she will be ready to walk in the Run for a Cure and hopes she and a group of her friends can raise as much money as possible before the event.
More than 20 friends and relatives, including Melanie Harris of Mission, Christi Livingstone of Surrey and Maria Bedwell of Maple Ridge, are helping and each person has a goal of raising $300. Dubbed the Rack Pack, the group is even inviting the public to a pub night next month.
While recovering from her surgery, Abfalter said she has not had a lot of time to get outside and train. She hopes to walk the 5 km route but said there is a 1 km route she can take depending on how she feels.
Currently, the Rack Pack is hovering between second and third place in money raised for the Vancouver event with more than $3,365 in donations. Abfalter hopes to push that number even higher by the time the Run for a Cure event takes place this fall.
• In order to donate to the group go to www.runforthecure.com and search for the Rack Pack team. For more information or to donate, email therackpack@hotmail.com.
• The pub fundraiser will be held at the Haney Public House in Maple Ridge on Sept. 17. Tickets are $15 and include a dinner and a drink and there will be a 50/50 draw and door prizes.
gmckenna@tricitynews.com