A LIVESTRONG Leader Story: Marcelo
by Guest
LIVESTRONG Leaders are individuals that make a yearly significant commitment to those in their community affected by cancer by spreading the message of LIVESTRONG. They do this by fundraising, hosting events, bringing LIVESTRONG resources to their local hospitals and more. One of our amazing leaders from Mexico, Marcelo Perez, talks about why he is involved with LIVESTRONG and what he is doing in his community to help spread the LIVESTRONG message.
What does LIVESTRONG mean to you?
A way of life, an inspiration for me to give everyday my best, with my family, friends, at work and be able to support those affected by cancer by giving them support, giving them hope.
Why are you a Leader?
In Mexico, there is a very strong stigma that whoever gets cancer will die, I want to contribute to change this belief, cultivating a culture of prevention and removing the label or those who think that cancer is incurable, and integrate to normal activities the people that has already healed,
After read the Lance Armstrong Book “It`s not about the bike” I felt that I could help in some way the people affected by cancer, in a way that I enjoyed, doing sports.
I like it when the people we support through our sports events smiles, it is the best reward you can have, to give someone who is in the fight against cancer a breath through the effort we make in our races, is something that gives us encouragement to continue doing so.
This is the first year that I am promoting LIVESTRONG, and every time I talk to someone about what we are doing, they show much interest in supporting either with their races, their time or simply comment with their acquaintances, I hope the community continue growing very fast and we can do more against cancer.
Getting more involved in the foundation makes me want to continue in the fight against cancer. Knowing cancer survivors like Pedro Martino of Uruguay has made me seen life in a different way, we can change the myth that cancer is incurable.
What are you doing in your community?
I’ve been promoting LIVESTRONG in sporting events, participating in races of 10k, half marathon, where we invite teams to learn about the foundation and to participate actively, we run to honor people who had or have cancer and this is the way we bring them hope.
I’m promoting the campaign “Comparte tu Historia” (“share your story”) with cancer related people to express what the disease is, and create a social network with people who can provide health services, advices or simply to share knowledge information.
I am approaching to the government to promote local associations that fights cancer, which are limited in resources and I think through LIVESTRONG we can support them and help a lot of people that are living with cancer.
Marcelo Perez
LIVESTRONG Leader
Mexico
