#CTCylceTour: Chantel rides for charity
A second battle with cancer has inspired Chantel Rall to raise funds for a charity by riding in the Cape Town Cycle Tour.
|||Cape Town - A second battle with cancer has inspired a Camps Bay athlete to raise funds for charity by riding in the Cape Town Cycle Tour on Sunday.
Chantel Rall is among the list of “fundracers”, a term given to those racing to raise money for charity.
Rall, 36, will be cycling for the Pink Drive, a breast cancer awareness organisation that provides free breast-cancer screening and education around the country. She doubled her initial goal of R1 000 by last night and hopes to raise R 5 000 by Sunday.
“I have to be vocal about cancer awareness and to share my story so that I can help many other people, be it survivors, warriors battling with cancer, the heroes who lost their fights or the families rallying behind their warriors,” Rall said.
The athlete’s first encounter with disease was in 2012, when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Three years later she is now fighting multiple cancers, including liver, pancreatic and lymph node cancer.
“At the age of 32, I thought I was healthy and strong, at a stage where planning families was rife,” she said. “I knew I could fix it.”
Since her diagnosis, Rall has become more passionate about being healthy and fit. She started eating healthy foods, sticking to a diet, and spent most of her time training - whether running, cycling or swimming.
She said training was therapeutic.
After her hysterectomy, Rall was put on bed rest for four to six weeks.
“I made a deal with God. I said if you allow me to walk again I will do the Ironman triathlon.” She regained her strength and did two full Ironman triathlons, one half triathlon and number of other races.
Rall was cleared of cancer, but said she knew it would not last forever.
When she was rediagnosed last year, the cancer was already at stage four. “This one has affected my body a whole lot more. I have lost 30kg in three months,” Rall said.
She is undergoing chemotherapy and is involved with her charity Love Chanty that raises cancer awareness among athletes.
*To make a donation, visit ctctfundracers.co.za
zodidi.dano@inl.co.za
Cape Argus