'Cancer Needs To Be Stopped': Despite 7 Strokes, Man Bikes Across Country In Memory Of Friend Who Died Of Breast Cancer
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --Some do it for exercise, others do it to get back and forth from work, but for Brent Bundy, he bikes for Gina. The cyclist is on a mission on his bike from Oregon to New York City. He spoke with Eyewitness News about how he almost didn't make it this far.
"Gina was a good friend, one of my best friends," Bundy said.
She was at Bundy's bedside when he nearly died following a head on car crash.
"I broke my neck, I had seven strokes and I had to learn to walk, talk and eat again, but there she was," he said.
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And he was there for her, when she passed at just 34 years old after being diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer.
"It's a terrible disease, it's just awful, cancer needs to be stopped," Bundy said.
So this now 51-year-old man from Oregon, donned nearly entirely in pink, started biking across the country to raise awareness and to hopefully get women screened.
It is his sixth time across the United States, his bike adorned with more than 600 names of people that he has met, people that have helped him and people who have survived cancer, has logged more than 30,000 miles.
"The first time was very hard, nearly impossible, the second time was not so much fun but the third through sixth time has been pretty much easy," he said.
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That is except for a pretty major setback this past January on an icy day in Jim Thorpe, when he was knocked unconscious by a slab of ice which flew from a passing car.
"I don't remember a whole lot because I didn't see the ice coming," he said.
But it landed Bundy in Bethlehem for spinal surgery and delayed his trip for months, but in a way, it brought him to Philadelphia.
"I thought, 'I'm awfully close to Philadelphia, I need to swing by there,'" Bundy said.
So now he is taking in the scenes before making the final trek to Staten Island with Gina helping to lead the way.
"She helps me up the tough hills, I tap my helmet," he said.
Like she has for the past five trips.
"It's been 16 years but it feels like it's yesterday," he said.
