Giles County man set to bike across America to raise awareness for prostate cancer

Robert Ferrari hopes to raise $50,000

PEARISBURG, Va. – After battling and recovering from prostate cancer, one Giles County man is taking his story on the road as he bikes across the country to raise money and awareness about the disease.

“I’ve got this huge family history of prostate cancer so father and grandfather, two of his brothers and my brother all diagnosed before we were 60,” Cancer Survivor Robert Ferrari said.

After recovering from his surgery at Carilion, Ferrari had a new outlook on life.

“Even a good cancer diagnosis and a good outcome, and kind of makes you look at the rest of your life,” Ferrari said.

Now, he is planning a cross country bike trip in hopes of spreading awareness about the disease that has impacted his family for decades.

“The official route is 4,200 and some change I’ll be up around 5000 miles by the time I’m done and if you throw in the training miles it’ll be more like eight or nine so I just figured 5000 Miles $10 A mile $50,000 I’d like to raise $50,000 for zero cancer,” Ferrai said.

Ferrari also hopes his journey will show that cancer survivors and patients are much more than their disease.

“It doesn’t have to be embarrassing, doesn’t have to be something to die from. So prostate cancer, I’ll ride for prostate cancer,” Ferrari said.

Ferrari is set to start in Seattle and end in Maine in roughly four months’ time, he hopes his cross country trip will help other men be proactive about prostate cancer.

For more information on Zero Cancer, you can visit its website here.


About the Author:

Annie Schroeder joined the 10 News team as a reporter in June 2020 and is no stranger to Southwest Virginia.