Mark Donovan and his wife Pieta have been side-by-side on Pieta’s yearlong journey through cancer, and he says being by her side isn’t the challenge.
“The harder part is you can’t really influence what the outcome is going to be, so you feel powerless."
Pieta has stage four colorectal cancer, a diagnosis that came as a surprise. She had no symptoms; they say it was found by accident.
“You just scramble to find ways to support,” Donovan said.
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His research for doctors and treatment led them to Smilow Cancer Hospital, where he says the staff support and treatment have been remarkable.
“This is a team that works very hard under challenging circumstances every single day. Every day," Donovan said.
He overheard nurses talking about Closer to Free and wanted to support them, and Pieta. That’s where he found the power to do more.
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“This has been a really challenging journey up to this point. But the team makes it so much easier,” he said.
His friends from high school are coming together on Saturday to join the Closer to Free team of infusion nurses. The support his family has received is what Mark hopes to share on a larger scale with the Closer to Free Ride.
“We really saw the ride as an opportunity to not only support Pieta, but also make a difference in the community and see how we can support them," Donovan said.
This is Mark’s first Closer to Free Ride and he set a goal of $15,000. All of it goes back to Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center for research, support programs and treatments, all in a common effort to fight cancer.
“It doesn’t matter what your socioeconomic status is, it doesn't matter how you vote, it doesn't matter where you live. We’re all exactly the same, trying to accomplish exactly the same thing, with the same fears, with the same goals," Donovan said.
He said the Closer to Free Ride creates a rallying point to do just that, where people can all come together and hopefully make a difference in the lives of people they just met, and those who are loved dearly.
“I think that if we can leave having made our community better, the lives of the ones we love better, than that’s a far bigger win than any amount of money we can have in our bank accounts or stuff that we can have surrounding us," he said.
