CORNWALL, P.E.I. - Bright pink socks disappeared into heavy boots as firefighter Bradley Slater pulled on 75 pounds of bunker gear for a rain-soaked five-kilometre walk on Sunday.
It served two purposes: raising awareness about the cancer risks firefighters face and recognizing the strain on families supporting a loved one with the disease. Both hit home for Slater, whose partner, Janette Kerry, has been living with cancer for nearly three years.
“There’s a lot of weight that’s carried through that process,” Slater said. “It just symbolizes the everyday struggle.”
For Slater and Kerry, that struggle has included emotional swings between good and bad news, planning for surgery, and the added stress and expense of travelling for appointments and services off the Island.
In November 2023, Kerry learned she had multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A, known as MEN2A, a rare inherited syndrome affecting the endocrine glands. She was also diagnosed with medullary thyroid cancer, which is associated with the syndrome.
“That sounds like one of the worst things that can happen to someone, but I genuinely feel like to finally get answers after so many years felt really validating,” Kerry said.
Finally having a name for what she was experiencing brought relief, but getting the care she needs has been another challenge. Some of Kerry’s scans and surgeries require trips to Halifax.
“I do feel like only a fraction of care can actually happen on the Island, unfortunately,” Kerry said. “This is an endocrine disease, so I should have an endocrinologist, but there aren’t any.”
Slater and Kerry completed the five-kilometre course as part of the Just Live Fun Run. Their online campaign is collecting donations for the P.E.I. Cancer Treatment Centre.
At the finish line, P.E.I. Health and Wellness Minister Cory Deagle placed medals around participants’ necks.
“As a smaller province, we’re only able to offer so many services. But it’s something we’re always looking to expand,” Deagle said.
The Just Live Fun Run itself supports a different cause. Proceeds go to the Sarcoma Cancer Foundation of Canada, which matches donations up to $100,000. The money is directed to the PRO_CARE EHE research team at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto.
EHE is the ultra-rare cancer that event co-founder Michelle Hughes has been living with for five years.
“My son was only one month old and my girls were two and five,” she said. “My husband and I were completely devastated and shocked by this diagnosis.”
Her cancer is currently incurable.
“They’re all working incredibly hard to find us a treatment,” Hughes said.
Hand in hand, Slater and Kerry made it through the last stretch, in a sea of some 2,000 participants in pink.
“It was easy having everyone with us to carry us through,” Slater said.
“I had a lot of fun. It was a great time,” Kerry added.
More runners and walkers followed, choosing to do something hard for those facing something harder.
