Running against cancer | Riley Senft | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool
-
0:18 - 0:20Hi, I'm Riley,
-
0:20 - 0:23I am an anesthesiologist from Vancouver,
-
0:23 - 0:27and last summer I ran across Canada.
-
0:28 - 0:31My story begins in 2007
-
0:31 - 0:34when my dad was diagnosed
with prostate cancer. -
0:34 - 0:38He had surgery to remove
his prostate in the spring of 2008. -
0:38 - 0:41Shortly after that, my grandfather
died of prostate cancer, -
0:41 - 0:44and within about six months,
-
0:44 - 0:47two of my really close friends
were diagnosed with prostate cancer. -
0:47 - 0:5118 months after that,
my dad's prostate cancer came back. -
0:51 - 0:53So over the course of two,
two and a half years, -
0:53 - 0:57prostate cancer was this thing
that sort of thrust itself into my life, -
0:57 - 0:59and became a big part of it.
-
1:01 - 1:03It wasn't something that I was expecting,
-
1:03 - 1:06it wasn't something
that I know I heard a lot about, -
1:06 - 1:08and it was something that I felt like,
-
1:08 - 1:11I wanted to do something against,
-
1:11 - 1:13and to raise awareness for.
-
1:16 - 1:21Prostate cancer doesn't just affect
my family, as you heard, -
1:21 - 1:22it is quite a common cancer;
-
1:22 - 1:27it's actually one in six men
[who] will get prostate cancer. -
1:29 - 1:32That's more common than breast cancer.
-
1:35 - 1:38Those people who do get it,
-
1:38 - 1:42--if I look around the room here,
and say there's 300 people in the room-- -
1:42 - 1:43If a 150 of you are men,
-
1:43 - 1:4625 of you will get prostate cancer.
-
1:46 - 1:50Of those 25, four of you will die from it.
-
1:51 - 1:55Those of you who don't,
don't escape completely, -
1:55 - 1:58the surgery and treatment
for prostate cancer -
1:58 - 2:00can have devastating complications
-
2:00 - 2:03like impotence,
incontinence, and depression. -
2:03 - 2:06That obviously
doesn't just affect the men, -
2:06 - 2:10all the women in the audience,
have fathers and brothers, sons, -
2:10 - 2:14and it's really a whole family issue.
-
2:14 - 2:18I decided that I wanted to do something,
-
2:18 - 2:20and running across Canada
-
2:20 - 2:23was the biggest thing
that I could think of to do, -
2:23 - 2:26that would raise
the most amount of awareness. -
2:26 - 2:31In May of 2011, I set off
from the small little island you can see -
2:31 - 2:33on the far right-hand side
of the map there; -
2:33 - 2:35that's a place called
Cape Spear, Newfoundland, -
2:35 - 2:38it's the most easterly part
of North America. -
2:38 - 2:44I ran 70 kilometers a day over the course
of five months to get to Vancouver. -
2:45 - 2:48To put that into European perspective,
-
2:48 - 2:51that's like running from London to Moscow,
-
2:52 - 2:55and then turning around and running back,
-
2:55 - 2:56(Laughter)
-
2:58 - 3:02and then turning north and running
600 kilometers up to Edinburgh. -
3:03 - 3:05It was quite a distance,
-
3:05 - 3:08but just running wasn't going do it,
-
3:08 - 3:10I needed a way to let people know
what I was doing. -
3:10 - 3:14I came up with a charity
and we would call it "Step into Action," -
3:14 - 3:18because we're trying to get men
to step into action and go get tested. -
3:20 - 3:22We had the money
-
3:22 - 3:25linked to a Vancouver-based
Prostate Cancer Research Centre, -
3:25 - 3:27which was one of the foremost
-
3:27 - 3:30prostate cancer research centres
in the world, -
3:30 - 3:33but even that wasn't enough
to let people know what we were doing. -
3:33 - 3:35We felt like we needed a cool slogan,
-
3:35 - 3:38because everybody needs a cool slogan.
-
3:38 - 3:40One of the difficulties
with prostate cancer is -
3:40 - 3:42if you want to get a man
to go see his GP -
3:42 - 3:45when he's healthy and has
no symptoms, is pretty hard. -
3:45 - 3:47If you try to get him to go see his GP,
-
3:47 - 3:49and tell him he is going to get
a prostate exam, -
3:49 - 3:50(Laughter)
-
3:50 - 3:51it's even harder.
-
3:51 - 3:55What we tried to do is use
that idea, and we said, literally: -
3:55 - 3:57"One finger can save your life."
-
3:57 - 3:59(Laughter)
-
3:59 - 4:02And so, I spent last summer giving
prostate cancer the finger. -
4:02 - 4:04(Laughter)
-
4:04 - 4:07We came up with all the promotional
material we could think of, -
4:07 - 4:09we put out information cards,
-
4:09 - 4:14we came up with prostate cancer ties,
and pins, and wristbands. -
4:14 - 4:18We sent out name badges and buttons,
-
4:18 - 4:22and we went on every radio,
newspaper, and television show -
4:22 - 4:24that would have us
and that we could find. -
4:24 - 4:27And we did everything
that we could to raise awareness. -
4:27 - 4:34And what started as this campaign
to raise awareness for prostate cancer, -
4:34 - 4:37ended up being
the biggest adventure of my life. -
4:37 - 4:42When I started off,
I didn't really know what to expect, -
4:42 - 4:47but as it started to build,
it became quite awesome. -
4:47 - 4:49I got to meet thousands
of prostate cancer survivors, -
4:49 - 4:52which was great for my own psyche.
-
4:52 - 4:54I got to take part...
-
4:54 - 4:58I'm a big sports fan, and I got
to do the halftime shows -
4:58 - 5:00at some football games,
and my local ice hockey game, -
5:00 - 5:04and we were able to reach hundreds
of thousands of men through that media. -
5:06 - 5:10As the momentum built and we got closer
to Vancouver, which is where I'm from, -
5:10 - 5:13I had police and fire truck escorts,
which I thought it was awesome. -
5:13 - 5:15(Laughter)
-
5:15 - 5:20As I ran into Vancouver, they actually
relit the Olympic Cauldron for us, -
5:20 - 5:23and I finished my run
by jumping into the Pacific Ocean, -
5:23 - 5:27and I had 1,200 kids
from my old school there with me. -
5:27 - 5:30It was absolutely awesome.
-
5:30 - 5:33But, by no means, was it just,
you know, fun and easy. -
5:33 - 5:36It was a bit grueling, it was monotonous;
-
5:36 - 5:39running seven to eight hours a day
-
5:39 - 5:41can get you through
your iTunes library fairly quickly. -
5:41 - 5:43(Laughter)
-
5:46 - 5:51It had things that I like to call
the five H's, where the first was 'hills,' -
5:51 - 5:53there's a lot of them in Canada.
-
5:53 - 5:55Don't know if you guys
heard of the Rocky Mountains. -
5:55 - 5:57(Laughter)
-
5:57 - 5:59There's the 'heat' and 'humidity.'
-
5:59 - 6:02It was 44 degrees Celsius
and 80 to 90% humidity, -
6:02 - 6:06I was wringing my shirt and my shorts out
every two or three kilometers. -
6:06 - 6:07The 'headwind' was immense,
-
6:07 - 6:10I was going east to west,
so I had one everyday, -
6:10 - 6:12and sometimes
I had to sneak in behind my RV, -
6:12 - 6:14so that I could keep moving forward.
-
6:14 - 6:17And then there was the 'hunger,'
and I was hungry all the time. -
6:17 - 6:18(Laughter)
-
6:18 - 6:21But the worst part by far,
were the blisters. -
6:21 - 6:25I didn't have a lot of time to train,
--I live in Winnipeg at the moment, -
6:25 - 6:27it's -40°C in the winter
when I was trying to train -
6:27 - 6:31it's not the most conducive to running--
and when I started off, my feet felt it. -
6:31 - 6:34I had blisters everyday
until I got to Calgary, -
6:34 - 6:36which is about 5,000 kilometers away,
-
6:36 - 6:40and this photo is taken
from a hospital, two weeks into the run, -
6:40 - 6:43where I ended up
having to sort of take a little break, -
6:43 - 6:46while I got attended to.
-
6:46 - 6:48People love to talk
and ask me about statistics, -
6:48 - 6:50so I've put in some here for you.
-
6:50 - 6:55I ran 6,621 kilometers
and went through eight pairs of shoes. -
6:55 - 6:57I actually lost 46 pounds,
-
6:57 - 7:01despite the fact that I was eating
even when I was running. -
7:02 - 7:06We raised close to 600,000 dollars
and we're still climbing. -
7:06 - 7:10I ran, towards the end, 70 kilometers
a day and maxed that around 80. -
7:10 - 7:13With running five-and-half
to six-and-half min/km, -
7:13 - 7:17that took seven to eight hours a day
to get through what I was doing. -
7:17 - 7:20I learned a lot during this trip.
-
7:21 - 7:23[One] of the lessons I learned
-
7:23 - 7:26was the power of being
completely unreasonable. -
7:28 - 7:32I had this idea to run across Canada,
and a lot of people told me that it was... -
7:33 - 7:37"You'll take too long and [it'll] be
too complicated logistically." -
7:37 - 7:39One of my favorite quotes
is from Mark Twain, -
7:39 - 7:43and I'm paraphrasing
when I say that he said: -
7:43 - 7:46"The reasonable man
adapts himself to the world around him. -
7:46 - 7:50The unreasonable man tries to adapt
the world around him to himself, -
7:50 - 7:54that's why most progress
is made by unreasonable men." -
7:55 - 7:58The next thing I learned
was the power to inspire. -
7:58 - 8:01If you have a great idea,
people get excited about it, -
8:01 - 8:03and if you can get people
excited about your cause, -
8:03 - 8:06then you can get them
to become partners in your cause, -
8:06 - 8:09and that helps you build
support and momentum. -
8:09 - 8:13I tried to build a team around me
that was excited about what I was doing, -
8:13 - 8:16and from there we were able
to build sponsors and get momentum -
8:16 - 8:20and that's when our campaign
really started to kick-off. -
8:20 - 8:23The next thing I learned
was the power of creating a diverse team. -
8:23 - 8:27I spent eight hours a day running, I spent
the rest of the time eating or sleeping. -
8:27 - 8:30I didn't have a lot of time to be doing
-
8:30 - 8:33a lot of the promotions
that I wanted to be doing. -
8:33 - 8:37But I had a campaign manager who was great
at coming up with things like, -
8:37 - 8:39"One finger can save your life,"
-
8:39 - 8:44I had a road manager who was relentless
at keeping our morale up, -
8:44 - 8:46and would hand me sandwiches and say:
-
8:46 - 8:48--even though they were
the same sandwiches everyday-- -
8:48 - 8:51"Today guess what? The lettuce
is next to the tomato." -
8:51 - 8:53(Laughter)
-
8:53 - 8:55"Yesterday it was next to the cheese."
-
8:56 - 9:00And I had a family that was fantastic
at helping, get support, -
9:00 - 9:03get sponsors, and create events.
-
9:03 - 9:06The last thing I learned
was the power of making it personal. -
9:06 - 9:11I could have gone door-to-door and said:
"I'm here, running about prostate cancer, -
9:11 - 9:15and I want you to go to your GP,
and have a prostate exam." -
9:15 - 9:17And that would work to a certain extent,
-
9:17 - 9:21but would also be
a little bit more difficult. -
9:21 - 9:25I tried to make it about my grandfather,
my father, myself, -
9:25 - 9:30and then I tried to make it about
your grandfather, father, and yourself, -
9:30 - 9:33or the man in your life.
-
9:33 - 9:38And I found that to be
a lot more successful. -
9:38 - 9:44So when I started this, I had a big dream
that I was going to do this -
9:44 - 9:48and try to figure out the ways to raise
the most amount of awareness. -
9:48 - 9:52I had to take that dream off the shelf
and start working at it bit by bit, -
9:52 - 9:56but it ended up being
a fantastic experience. -
9:56 - 9:59Like I said, one in six men
get prostate cancer, -
9:59 - 10:03but for my dad it was one in six,
my grandfather is one in six, -
10:03 - 10:05and is a very good possibility
-
10:05 - 10:08that both my brother and myself
could be one in six. -
10:08 - 10:09So thank you.
-
10:09 - 10:11(Applause)
- Title:
- Running against cancer | Riley Senft | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool
- Description:
-
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED conferences.
Inspired by a succession of family and friends diagnosed with prostate cancer, Riley recently ran 6,600km across Canada to convince men to "Step Into Action" towards early detection. - Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 10:26
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Running against cancer | Riley Senft | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Running against cancer | Riley Senft | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Running against cancer | Riley Senft | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool | ||
Denise RQ approved English subtitles for Running against cancer | Riley Senft | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Running against cancer | Riley Senft | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Running against cancer | Riley Senft | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Running against cancer | Riley Senft | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Running against cancer | Riley Senft | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool |