Ballard father of cancer patient raising money to fund research

A Ballard father is doing everything he can to help his son beat cancer, including cycling across multiple states to help raise money to fund research to find a cure. Alex Weinert’s son, Owain, was diagnosed with leukemia over two years ago, and undergoes chemotherapy everyday. Weinert has joined Team Pablove Across America, and will ride from Boston to Raleigh over two weeks, visiting children’s hospitals along the way, to raise money and help spread hope to families.

Alex Weinert

We first introduced you to the Weinerts two years ago, when Owain was first diagnosed. Weinert tells us his son is now in remission and scheduled to be off treatment in May of next year.

From Weinert:

Before Owain got sick, our family got into cycling together. But the year Owain was diagnosed, we didn’t ride. We stayed in the hospital, or at home, watching as Owain suffered from the effects of the powerful poisons intended to kill the cancer without *quite* killing our son.

The treatment for leukemia takes over 3 years for boys. Owain gets chemo EVERY DAY. As his father, watching my son suffer from cancer and its treatment is like seeing him get beat up every day and not being able to DO anything. So as much as I can, I DO what I can to fight back against the disease that has caused my son so much suffering.

Owain Weinert. Photo courtesy Alex Weinert

Team Pablove Across America was started by the parents of Pablo, a 6-year-old who lost his life to cancer. Pablo loved riding his bike, so his parents started the group to help fund cancer research. Weinert started the two-week bike trip on Saturday, and expects to be finished on October 13. He set up a donation page, and has so far raised just over $8,000. His goal is $15,000. “It will be hard. It will be long. It will be tiring and it will hurt. It will be nothing compared to what the kids go through,” Weinert writes on his donation page.

They’ll be riding 50 to 100 miles each day. “Each day we dedicate the morning to a kid on treatment, the afternoon to a kid off treatment, and the evening to kids who have passed,” he tells us. This isn’t the first time Weinert has joined Pablove Across America; he rode from Seattle to Portland two years ago and raised $2,500.

To learn more about Weinert’s efforts or to donate to his fund, click here.