MIAMI — City of Miami police officers headed out Wednesday morning for a 260-mile charity bicycle ride to Orlando.
The ride is all to support Blood Cancer United, formerly known as The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
The 19 officers participating in the ride headed out around 6:30 a.m. from Bayfront Park after having undergone months of intense training and miles on the road.
Three first responders with Miami Fire Rescue are riding along for the journey as well in their fire rescue truck in case the officers need medical attention.
“This year’s ride is held in honor of Patricia ‘Patty’ McCrink — the beloved wife of Detective Joseph McCrink, a 28-year veteran of the Miami Police Department — whose life has been deeply affected by blood cancer,” MPD said in a news release.
Patty McCrink celebrated the completion of her cancer treatment for stage 4 Non-Hodgkin lymphoma three months ago.
“I had some night sweats and then some bruising. And I was with that for about two weeks and just ignoring those symptoms, thinking it was menopause,” Patty McCrink said. “I lost about 25 pounds in about two and a half weeks. And then I said, ‘Something’s not right.’”
“There were a lot of days that, you know, we had some hard days going through this, and you know, we’ve been married for 32 years, and we’ve had our battles and they’ve been good and bad, and we just work through it and say, ‘Hey, we’re not gonna let this disease tear us apart,’” Detective McCrink added.
Police said Detective McCrink has dedicated himself to raising funds and awareness for cancer research for the past eight years.
So far, they’ve raised more than $30,000, and every penny will go towards Blood Cancer United, an organization dedicated to treatment, access and care.
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