Your Ride Is Here Helps Austinites Fight War On Cancer

Cancer is a brutal enemy.  It attacks your body, life, family, and your very existence.  Every year, millions of people are affected by cancer. The disease wages war on us and our lives are the prize.

How It Began

Ken Adams has been one of the soldiers in this battle who can stand triumphantly, with his fist raised in victory. Though his personal battle may be over, Ken has returned to the fight. This time, he brings friends.

Cancer has this conniving way of disrupting life on an exponential level. Imagine this: you’re a cancer patient who has a treatment scheduled at 12 PM. You don’t get in until 12:45 pm because a person ahead of you was late. This wasn’t their fault – the doctor felt it would be unsafe for them to drive alone to their appointment, and their spouse works during the day. After all, since getting sick, a dual income has been reduced by half, but the bills have not.

Your Ride Is Here is a charity organization founded by Ken Adams, designed to alleviate some of the pressure cancer patients face during their treatments. In a nutshell, Your Ride is Here provides rides for patients going to their treatments.

Ken put it like this: “In 2009, I had to undergo a series of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. After a treatment, all I wanted to do was get home. As I was leaving, I saw some of my fellow patients waiting on rides or public transportation.” This image stuck with Ken. After he successfully completed his treatment, he wanted to give something back. He told his oncologist Dr. Tim Dziuk about his idea to provide rides for patients. Dr. Dziuk immediately made a donation and told him to go for it. Your Ride Is Here was born.

How It Works

Since that initial donation, Your Ride Is Here has grown to encompass the Greater Austin Area and Houston. The non-profit relies on a network of social workers from local hospitals and cancer treatment centers and volunteer drivers.

When a patient needs a ride, a social worker contacts a volunteer who is close to the patient, and the volunteer provides a ride to and from treatment.

How does this network function? Ken informed me that there’s an app for that.

There’s another type of ride called a “dream ride.” Dream rides provide patients with the unique opportunity to ride in a high-end vehicle. These rides started with the support of local car clubs and dealers like John Eagle European and Ferrari of Austin. They’re a way to boost the morale of the patient.

“We usually provide the dream ride on the last day of treatment,” Ken told me. “Sometimes it’s better to provide one early on or mid-way through their treatments.”

He told a story of a young man named Freddy. At 19, Freddy was fighting for his life. One of Ken’s event planners found out Freddy was a fan of Dodge Vipers. For his birthday, the Viper club showed up to Freddy’s house and gave him the ride of his life. On top of that, Your Ride Is Here reached out to Dodge and arranged for a prototype Viper to be routed down to Austin. Freddy was the only civilian to take a ride in that car.

Rides and experiences like this take patients’ minds off their treatments and their bills, and gives them a much needed shot of positivity. In turn, this gives patients the much needed energy and drive to get through their treatments.

How You Can Help

Support and volunteers are always appreciated. Anyone wanting to inquire about making a donation or becoming a volunteer driver can do so at the Your Ride Is Here website. If you want to check the organization out in real time, Your Ride Is Here is working with Young Texans Against Cancer at an event on February 22nd. For details on this event, visit either charity’s website.

 

@The_DT_Show asks:  

How have you been affected by cancer?