Last year, cancer survivor Daniel Galileos and his sister Stephanie cycled in the event Ride to Conquer Cancer and are going to do it all again this weekend, but this time they’ve bought family members and friends along for the ride.
Daniel’s ‘nono’ (godfather) Con Gantzos died of cancer this year at the age of 44, so as to honour his memory, the siblings, alongside family members are going to embark on the race to raise awareness and much needed funds for cancer research.
“My ‘nono’ was very courageous, loving, kind and showed great strength during his battle with cancer,” Daniel tells Neos Kosmos.
“It is important that we ride for him to honour his memory, as he left behind his wife Jenny and two children Arki and Alessia and we want them to know how important he is to us all.”
The night of his ‘nono’s’ funeral, Daniel and his sister told the family of their intentions to take part in the Ride to Conquer Cancer and that they would in honour of Gantzos. All of the sudden, his ‘nono’s’ brother, brother-in-law and koumbari all decided there and then to do the same. The team have called themselves Con’s Pedallers, and with Daniel as team captain include: Stephanie Galileos; Peter Galileos Phil Galileos; Ian Rapassanis; Greg Thomaides; Terry Balderanos; Evan Gantzos; Con Galileos; George Ploumidis; Ellyse Malioris; and Nikki O’Donnell.
23-year-old Daniel says that as a cancer survivor, this ride is even more important to him to “give back to those that helped [him] and to continue the fight to find a cure for cancer”.
To date, the siblings and team have raised a grand total of $40,000 and are still fundraising.
“As we are a team of 12 and have each achieved our target of raising $2500 each. I have now qualified for a gold level ambassador which is a hugh honour as there are only two other riders who have qualified.”
For more information on Ride to Conquer cancer and to donate visit http://ml13.conquercancer.org.au