After experiencing what it’s like to hear the words ‘you have cancer’ not once but twice, Peter is passionate about doing what he can to help others impacted by a cancer diagnosis. Peter has committed to Ride for a reason this March, by getting a team together to take turns riding a spin bike for 24 hours.
Peter runs his own personal training business, Crank with Hank, mostly ran out of Trend Fitness Seaford and is a passionate fundraiser for Cancer Council SA after going through his own cancer diagnosis over 20 years ago and losing his mum to bowel cancer. When he heard about Ride for a reason, he knew this was something he could get on board with.
At just 27 years old and with two young daughters, Peter was diagnosed with testicular cancer. After a surgery to remove the tumour and radiotherapy, he slowly recovered, but a couple of months later he started to feel pain in the middle of his spine. An x-ray revealed the cancer was back.
“It was pretty scary for the first few months; I had no idea what I was up against. We lived in the Northern Territory at the time and all my family was here in South Australia. My parents had to come up to help look after the kids. I remember thinking about my two little girls. I wanted to be there for them, and I knew I had to get through this for them. I had to fight for my girls.,” Peter says.
“It was really tough, but I beat it. I am 51 now and have been cancer free since. Although it’s been a while since I had cancer, the experience is still pretty raw. There are some things that I’ve forgotten totally but there are some things I can remember as clearly as if they were yesterday.”
Cancer impacted Peter’s family again 10 years later, in 2009, when his mum was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer and told she had 12 months to live. Peter and his family made the decision to leave Darwin and move to Port Lincoln, to support his mum and spend as much time with her as they could before she passed.
“Not only did my mum have to see me go through cancer but then she actually had to go through her own cancer experience,” Peter says.
“It was difficult but unfortunately, it’s common these days. Most people you talk to will have gone through the same thing or know somebody who has gone through something similar.”
“I remember my mum saying that there’s always something more important for me to do and I believe out of that came ‘Crank with Hank Fitness’. I believe my legacy is to be able to help as many people as possible to live their best life and to be as strong mentally and physically as they can be. Fitness is the avenue where I am able to help out.”
With the help of Trend Fitness, Peter and his team will be challenging themselves to take turns riding a spin bike for a 24-hour period on Saturday 18 March to raise funds to support South Australians impacted by cancer.
“I’ll certainly be participating and I’m not a big bike rider. There’s a lot of people in the gym that ride a spin or exercise bike but probably don’t own one outside so we thought this would be a great way to get more people involved,” Peter says.
“There are six spin bikes so if anyone else wants to get a team together, bring it on and let’s do it together.”
Peter and his team hope to help fund research into improved treatments for others going through a cancer diagnosis and ultimately a cure.
“The treatment I had 20 years ago compared to the treatment today has improved greatly and there are more and more people surviving than ever before, so obviously we’re on the right track,” Peter says.
This March, every kilometre you ride on your bike can support the work of Cancer Council. Simply REGISTER for Ride for a reason, set your target distance, RAISE funds from your cheer squad, and RIDE for those impacted by cancer.