KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kaimuki physical therapist Jaco Van Delden, right, will travel to Seattle on Wednesday to start a 30-day bicycle ride to Portland, Maine. He hopes to raise $50,000 in honor of 3-year-old Taja Koch, of Nuuanu, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma when she was 21 months old.
A therapist will bike across the country
raising funds to honor a girl with cancer
A Kaimuki physical therapist was so moved by the plight of a 3-year-old girl with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that he is putting his job on hold and taking a month-long, cross-country bicycle ride to raise money for the fight against blood-related cancers.
Join in the journey
Anyone interested in making a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in support of Jaco Van Delden's "Cross for a Cure" can send a check to 680 Iwilei Road, Suite 675, Honolulu 96813.Please note "Jaco Van Delden" on the donation check.
For more information, contact the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at 534-1222, or go to the Web site leukemia-lymphoma.org.
Jaco Van Delden, 34, will fly to Seattle on Wednesday to start his 30-day journey to Portland, Maine. He hopes to raise $50,000 in honor of Taja Koch, of Nuuanu, who has been battling cancer for more than a year.
"It's heartwarming," said Nalani Koch, Taja's mother. "I can't believe someone will go out of their way to do that."
Van Delden's cross-country ride symbolizes the race against cancer that patients endure, she said. "For Taja, that's her bike ride that she's been going through all this time."
Van Delden said he was shocked to learn that Taja was not yet 2 years old when diagnosed with cancer. "My child is 21 months now," he said of his daughter, Yael.
Van Delden's first encounter with a fatal disease occurred when his father, Jacob, died shortly after being diagnosed with colon cancer in 1994.
When Van Delden visited his father at a hospital in Holland, he saw children who had lost their hair from chemotherapy. He said it was the first time he was confronted with children with cancer.
In 1996, Van Delden moved from London to Honolulu and started a physical rehabilitation clinic at the Honolulu Club.
Last year, he became involved in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society after he cared for a patient who had participated in a San Diego marathon to help raise money for cancer research.
"That's when I got interested in the work. ... I always wanted to become involved, but I never had time. Now I have a short period of time to do something," Van Delden said.
Through the society, he learned about Taja's condition.
Van Delden received a picture of the toddler, who had suffered from hair loss because of chemotherapy. The image reminded him of the children he saw nine years earlier.
"That must be very difficult and a lot of hardship for the parents," he said. "I can understand the same helplessness you go through when someone in your family gets diagnosed."
Van Delden is an avid bicyclist, windsurfer, swimmer, runner and surfer. He has been involved in many athletic competitions held in the state, such as the amateur division for the Xterra World Championship in 1999, Tinman in 2000 and the Ironman World Championship in 2001, where he placed second in the Hawaii amateur division.
Van Delden recently spent a few days on the Big Island riding his racing bike to prepare for his 3,400-mile trip.
He said he hopes to travel at least 120 miles a day, and will spend his nights at state parks and private camping grounds. Because of the summer heat in the southern states, Van Delden decided to take the northern route. His wife, Jennifer, will run the rehabilitation clinic during his trip.
Taja, who attends Queen Emma Preschool, is in remission but still faces another year of chemotherapy to make sure the cancer is completely gone.
"She's doing really well. ... She acts like a normal toddler," said her mother.
Because of the ongoing research on blood-related cancers, Taja has a "great chance of being completely cured," she added.
Mea Neal, campaign manager for the Hawaii branch of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, said an estimated 400 people are diagnosed with blood-related cancers in Hawaii every year. About 200 people in the state die every year from their illness, Neal said.
"We are thankful for Jaco and his efforts toward the battle against blood-related diseases," she said.
