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Family Goes The Extra Mile For Cancer Benefit

Courtesy of the Gibbs Family

Bob Gibbs, who has endured two brain surgeries, and his wife Barbara are hosting "Miles for Hope," a 100K, 50K and 10K family ride in Clearwater.

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By MARY SHEDDEN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 13, 2008

Bob Gibbs is moving his battle against brain cancer to two wheels.

The 39-year-old Clearwater resident has endured two brain surgeries and chemotherapy since being diagnosed in 2004. Earlier this year, his fight to stave off the now advanced tumor took him to California, where he underwent surgery that's part of an ongoing clinical trial for a tumor vaccine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Just three weeks after that surgery, Gibbs was back at home, picking up a passion he had abandoned two decades earlier: bicycling.

"We noticed the health benefits," Gibbs' wife, Barbara, says of her husband's return to regular exercise and subsequent energy increase. "We believe the healthier you are, the better you can fight the cancer."

The couple and their four sons are so convinced of bicycling benefits, they are hosting "Miles for Hope," a 100K, 50K and 10K family ride on Sept. 20 at Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex in Clearwater.

Raising money is part of the ride's purpose - but it's not the only inspiration, Barbara Gibbs says. The rides - on preset routes - are designed to attract all levels of bike riders, including families who may have never tried bicycling as a form of fitness.

"Maybe this will entice someone into bicycling," she says.

This year, an estimated 21,810 children and adults in the United States will be diagnosed with brain cancer. Another 13,000 will die of the abnormal cell growth in the tissues of the brain, says the National Cancer Institute. This cancer, which has no known cause, can first appear in the brain or be the offshoot of cancer in another region of the body.

Proceeds from the event will be used to help expand the clinical trial at UCLA to include patients with less-advanced forms of brain cancer - in particular, pediatric patients. The vaccine study uses a patient's tumor to create a customized vaccine, which is injected over a period of time into a patient's arm.

That focus on pediatric brain cancer was inspired by a coincidental and harrowing experience several years ago, when the Gibbses' oldest son was diagnosed with a noncancerous brain mass following a motocross crash. Christopher Gibbs, now 17, is healthy but serves as an additional reminder of the need for more research, his mother says.

"Having my own son diagnosed with a brain mass gave me an idea of what other parents are going through," she says.

The National Cancer Institute estimates close to 20 percent of all pediatric cancers today are located in the brain and nervous system. Unfortunately, the rates at which those children are dying from such cancers continue to increase.

For information, go to www.MilesForHope.org.

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