A Pan-Mass Challenge rider who has been participating in the charity event for years now has another reason to be riding this year after facing her own cancer diagnosis and battle.
Newton’s Taylor Chinitz, 26, will be back in the PMC this week after receiving a stem cell transplant last spring and being told her cancer was in remission by September.
“I started riding originally because we had a lot of family and friends affected by cancer, and it was a great way to honor them and to give back,” Chinitz said. “Then I ended up getting diagnosed with cancer myself at such a young age. It’s pretty wild.”
In 2018, Chinitz was 22 years old when she was diagnosed with Stage III B Hodgkins Lymphoma. She immediately started six months of chemotherapy, followed by a month of daily radiation.
She eventually needed a stem cell transplant last May during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and she was in isolation after surgery with no visitors allowed.
“It was definitely extra challenging not having my family and friends there,” Chinitz said.
By September, she was told her cancer was in remission.
“My first PMC now in remission is so meaningful for so many different reasons,” she said. “Being able to feel physically healthy and ride 100 miles makes me so excited and proud that I’m able to get back to that point. It’s also just really powerful being around people working toward the same goal and touched by cancer in the same way. I’m really excited to be in that environment.”
Cancer treatments have come a long way, but there’s still a lot more work that needs to be done, Chinitz stressed.
“I’m so lucky that there were multiple different options for treatment for me, but that’s not the case for everyone,” she said. “We need to get to a point where treatments come far enough where there are options like in my situation.”
This upcoming weekend will be Chinitz’s eighth PMC.
Last year, the PMC raised $50 million for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This year’s fundraising goal is $52 million.
The PMC will take place on Saturday and Sunday, with riders choosing from 16 different one- and two-day routes.
The charity bike-a-thon donates 100% of every rider-raised dollar directly to cancer care and research at Dana-Farber.
To check out Chinitz’s fundraising page, visit www.profile.pmc.org/TC0188.
