News

San Francisco Fire announces cross-Canada Rollerblader to skate across San Francisco for firefighter cancer prevention

Christine Ichim, who in 1996 became the first woman to rollerblade across Canada in support of cancer research, will be putting on her rollerblades once again to skate across San Francisco to raise money and awareness for the San Francisco Fire Department Cancer Prevention Foundation. Ichim will be accompanied by members of the San Francisco Fire Department on wheels and escorted by a fire engine and other public safety vehicles.

Ichim will be dipping her skates in the Pacific Ocean at Ocean Beach (Great Highway and Balboa) at 8:30am on 15 October, and then skating up Point Lobos Ave, where she will meet up with the team at 9:00am at San Francisco Fire Station #34. The route then proceeds across San Francisco down Geary, Presidio, Lombard, Columbus Ave, and the Embarcadero before finishing at San Francisco Fire Department Headquarters at 698 Second Street at 11:00am, where a ceremony will take place in honour of firefighter cancer prevention. Guests will include the Consul General of Canada and the San Francisco Firefighter Cancer Prevention Foundation, presented with a donation.

October 15 is the 25th anniversary of Ichim’s epic rollerblading journey across Canada. Setting out in 1996 to raise money for leukaemia research to inspire her ailing mother, Florica, Ichim rolled 5,000 miles across Canada to bring hope to cancer patients everywhere.

‘When I left for Victoria, my mother had slipped into the final stages of her disease. The doctors gave her six months to live. As she hugged me goodbye, she whispered in my ear, “if you make, I’ll make it”,’ Ichim said. ‘I knew then that failure was not an option.’

Florica Ichim not only saw her daughter complete her fantastic voyage, but thanks to advances in leukaemia treatments, she would live another 14 years, long enough to hold her first grandchild in her arms before she passed away. Florica Ichim, initially given a two–three-year prognosis with chronic myeloid leukaemia, beat the odds, living a total of 23 years with leukaemia.

Christine Ichim, now a scientist and CEO of a biotech company, has a new mission – to fight cancer in the fire service. Cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths in the fire service in North America, and Ichim is joining that battle by doing a fundraising event in San Francisco to raise awareness of the threat facing fire service and public safety workers.

‘I’ve lost a lot of brothers and sisters to cancer. … On the wall of the firefighter’s memorial in Sacramento, California, there are the names of over a dozen of my brothers and sisters who fell to this disease,’ said Terry Hogue (ret.) Rescue Captain with the SFFD and Ichim’s husband.

‘Research saves lives,’ said Ichim. ‘My mother lived 20 years on borrowed time because of advances in medical research. One area of research that is underfunded is how to prevent cancer following exposure to smoke from structural and wildland fires. We have the power to turn the tide and change our fate. Cancer is now the number-one cause of death of firefighters. We can change that,’ said Ichim.

MORE INFO HERE:

www.facebook.com/CrossCanadaRollerblader/

gofund.me/ea495aed benefitting the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation

PROCESSION ROUTE

October 15, 2021, 08:45am, MEET at Station 34, 499 41st Avenue at Geary Boulevard and leave by 9:00am

To SFFD #14 on Geary – 1 mile (9 minutes). 9:15
To SFFD #31 on Geary —0.9 miles (6 minutes) 9:25
To SFFD #10 on Geary/Presidio—1.6 miles (7 minutes) 9:35
To SFFD #51 on Presidio—1.4 miles (6 minutes) 9:45
To SFFD #16 on Presidio Blvd and Lombard (1.4 miles 9 minutes) 10:00
To SFFD #28 on Lombard to Franklin to Bay to Columbus (2.2 miles 17 minutes 10:15
To SFFD #2 on Stockton to Broadway to Powell (0.5 miles, 4 minutes) 10:25
To SFFD #13 Broadway to Columbus to Jackson to Sansome (0.6 miles, 4 minutes) 10:35
To SFFD #35 Sansome to Jackson to Drumm to Washington to Embarcadero 1.5 miles 9 minutes 10:50
To SFFD Headquarters, 698 Second Street: Embarcadero to Townsend 0.9 miles (5 minutes) arrive 11:00 am

CEREMONY:

11:00 am SFFD Headquarters, 698 Second Street main lobby

Contact:

Captain Terry Hogue (RET)

650-219-6884

tkh602@yahoo.com

For more information, please contact:

Lieutenant Jonathan Baxter

Public Information Officer (415) 558-3404

firepio@sfgov.org