Meet some of our Pedal4Prostate riders and read their stories.
One thing they all have in common is that prostate cancer has affected their lives, either through advocacy work, the loss of a loved one or being diagnosed themselves.
Te Ururoa Flavell - Living with my new mate
Another great day was had at Pedal4Prostate 2024, with almost 200 riders and their supporters. Our highest individual fundraiser was Te Ururoa Flavell, raising over $5000!
The former co-leader of Te Pati Maori is urging tane Maori to get themselves checked for prostate cancer. "Maori are twice as likely to die, because when we are diagnosed, we are often more sick, because it is detected late."
"I myself have been getting regular physical check-ups including a prostate blood test every 6 months for years now and this thing still snuck up on me."
Te Ururoa has been very open about his journey on social media, and his work in advocating for the importance of fundraising, and knowledge surrounding prostate cancer has been a great help to the Foundation.
"I thought I had a pretty good understanding of cancer, but since the beginning of this journey I have discovered that there is much more to learn. I want to share my journey with you all with the hope that it might help, ease, educate you or any of your loved ones going through this same journey. If that helps and save lives, I will be happy"
Vicky Fleming and Unity Collins
Vicki Fleming has been a pilot on a tandem for 15 years, working with her stoker, who is either blind or visually impaired. Last year and this year my stoker is blind para cyclist Unity Collins.
The pair have known each other for 3 years and have been riding competitively for the last 2.5 years a a national level, winning some gold medals and podium places. This year they got the opportunity to race in Belgium at a World Cup event, such an exciting adventure for Unity to be a part of and being in the mix with some of the best para cyclists in the world.
Vicki and Unity are participating in Pedal4Prostate to help raise money and awareness for prostate cancer, and will be sharing their time on the Hampton Downs circuit with Mark Fleming and Steve Donnelly, the other tandem pairing.
Tony Dodunski and the 8-Balls
When specialists told Tony Dodunski he should go home a prepare for the worst, he never dreamed that eight years later he would be riding in a 4-hour endurance cycling event. From being wheelchair bound to finding a new ability to exercise and love life without the amount of pain he had become accustomed to, Tony rode alongside his son and daughter (both previous participants) in 2019.
Having only discovered he had prostate cancer by chance during a hernia operation in 2009, Tony was passionate about raising awareness of the disease and encouraging men to get regular checks. “Men don’t like talking about it. Whether that’s because of embarrassment or thinking that they’re bulletproof, I want men to understand that it is their right, even at 40 years of age, to get checked for prostate cancer,” he said.
Sadly Tony lost his battle with the disease early in 2020, his family and whanau riding in his honour at Hampton Downs later that year, and in the hope that through sharing their story and their participation in Pedal4Prostate, men will be encouraged to forget the stigma around prostate checks and realise that early detection is the key to survival.
The Auckland Aces
Pedal4Prostate was no maiden run for the Auckland Aces who took on the National Circuit at Hampton Downs in 2019 and 2020, doing their part in raising awareness for prostate cancer and helping break the stigma around testing.
The former All Black and strong advocate for men’s health has jumped on his bike to raise awareness of prostate cancer on multiple occasions, encouraging other Kiwi blokes to go and get tested.
