Revving up for a cure!
Maimonides Health held its 16 annual Ride 2 Live event, an exhilarating motorcycle ride through Brooklyn, on Oct. 6. The yearly ride raises awareness and support for breast cancer research, treatment and prevention at the Maimonides Breast Center in Sunset Park.
More than 100 bikers gathered for the hourlong, scenic ride, which concluded with a celebratory afterparty at Dyker Heights Golf Club.
Organized in partnership with the Bikers of Brooklyn riding club, Ride 2 Live kicked off at the Maimonides Breast Center, the borough’s only fully accredited breast center, which ranks among the top 5% of cancer centers nationally.
Led by Dr. Patrick Borgen, director of the Maimonides Breast Center and chair of surgery at Maimonides, the ride highlighted the critical importance of breast cancer awareness, regular screenings and early detection.
“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who came out today in support of our mission of providing world-class breast cancer care here in Brooklyn,” said Dr. Borgen. “We work with patients every day on their path to becoming survivors. Events like these help us to create more survivors by raising awareness of the importance of regular screenings that allow us to identify this disease in its most treatable stage.”
Ride 2 Live is a key feature of Maimonides’ annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month programming. Earlier this month, the Maimonides Breast Center hosted its Pink Runway fashion show, where breast cancer survivors took the stage and helped raise nearly $650,000, which will be used to purchase new state-of-the-art equipment and expand the Center’s imaging capacity by 20%.
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States. About 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime, making it one of the most common cancers in New York State.
Dr. Borgen told Brooklyn Paper after the Pink Runway event that events like the fashion show and Ride 2 Live reaffirm life and optimism for patients facing a breast cancer diagnosis.
“It shows women facing this disease, ‘You will beat this. There’s life after treatment,’” he said, “and so this is really a victory for our patients.”
Additional reporting by Gabriele Holtermann