Profile
- Route: Ozarks
- Ride Year: 2022
- Hometown: Houston, TX
- School Year: Senior
- Major: Biology
- Email: alexkim1884@yahoo.com
About:
Hi there, I’m Alex! I’m a senior Biology major at the University of Texas. Some things I love to do include grocery shopping, drinking LOTS of coffee, finding new cafes, reading, playing with my dog, and serving in my church and in GMMA.
Thank you for taking the time to visit my page and for your support! Please feel free to reach out! I would love to ride for you or someone you know that has been affected by cancer.
Why I Ride
Uncle Mike was a hardworking, intimidating guy, but he was also the fun uncle, and he became like my “second dad.” He pushed my twin sister and I to succeed in school, and he would treat us like his own children. For a couple of years, he was traveling to various countries because of his oil industry job, but when my grandpa’s Alzheimer’s got worse, he decided to settle in Houston with our family close to him.
He was diagnosed with stage 4 Colon Cancer when I was a sophomore in high school. When my uncle and his doctors started to think about the chemotherapy sessions, they found out that his insurance wouldn’t cover his treatments. He only had two options: pay for all of his chemotherapy sessions out of pocket or go to Korea to receive treatment, where it was cheaper, but he would have to move away from his family. My uncle and his wife had to choose the latter and moved to Korea.
While my uncle was receiving aggressive chemotherapy sessions in Korea, he would facetime me and my family. Through each of those calls, I couldn’t help but notice how different he was becoming. He started to point out his little bald spots and then they eventually grew into bigger, more noticeable ones; he eventually decided to shave off all of his hair. His face started to become slimmer. He showed us a tumor that was growing on his neck, and the darkness of his skin from the radiation sessions. The more we facetimed, the harder it was, and the more helpless I became.
My uncle never failed to show his resilience and determination to beat his cancer. No matter what the doctors said about his prognosis, he chose to not let it define the type of person he would be and was to become. He still worked hard, and he was still the same uncle he was to us just as before. Just last month, the doctors declared my uncle to be in remission. They say it was a miracle.
People don’t just get to choose what cancer they have or the severity of it. We have a choice. I ride because I choose to fight for those who feel like no one is there for them and for those who can’t fight. I ride for a future where there is no place for cancer. I ride to bring awareness and hope to those who have been affected and are still battling cancer. They deserve to have someone fighting for them because no one should ever have to fight this alone.
To Alaska and Back,
Alex