Surgeon honors wife’s memory with race to cure breast cancer
Annual Komen Race for the Cure is Saturday.
Dr. Al Ciraldo, a general surgeon at Summa Health who also performs breast cancer surgeries, knows all too well the effects of breast cancer.
Ciraldo’s wife of 20 years, Debbie, died in 2001 at the age of 45, leaving behind four young children.
Ciraldo has been participating in the Komen Northeast Ohio Race for a Cure for 22 years — first to support and walk with his wife, then to honor her memory while raising awareness and funds to fight cancer.
In the years since his wife’s death, supporting the race is a way to remember his wife, advocate for self exams, mammograms and screenings and fight for a cure.
“I’ve always believed that all of this early detection — all of that goes away if you have an actual cure,” he said. “I’ve got three daughters and I want to keep their awareness high and keep every woman’s awareness high.”
At the seventh annual 2018 Komen Northeast Ohio Akron Race for the Cure on Saturday, an anticipated 800 to 1,000 participants will walk and run in honor and in memory of loved ones touched by breast cancer.
Individuals and teams raise money to find a cure for the most common form of cancer in women (and which also affects men). According to the Susan G. Komen organization, there are 3.5 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S.
This year’s race marks Ciraldo’s 19th year fielding a team called Ciraldo’s Crusaders for the Cure. Susan G. Komen Northeast Ohio chapter officials said for the Akron race alone, Ciraldo’s team has recruited 421 runners and raised nearly $10,000.
The 2018 Komen Northeast Ohio Akron Race for the Cure will be held at Canal Park Stadium Saturday in downtown Akron. Registration begins at 6 a.m., with a Survivor Ceremony at 8 a.m., a Kids Dash at 8:45 a.m. and the 1 mile/5K walk or run starting at 9:15 a.m. Participants can register at www.akronraceforthecure.com and also the day of the event.
Debbie Ciraldo was 39 years old in 1995 when she felt a thickening on her left breast during a self exam.
The young mother of four children ages 3 to 14 at the time got a mammogram. It came back normal.
But her husband also didn’t like the way the change in her breast felt and scheduled a biopsy. Their worst fears were confirmed: Debbie had Stage 4 breast cancer and also had many lymph nodes test positive.
She had a single mastectomy and started four rounds of high-dose chemotherapy at Duke University. Ciraldo busied himself “with miles and miles of papers and journals looking” for the best treatment.
Her scans came back cancer-free in 1996. The family breathed a sigh of relief and started traveling the world. They went to the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta and visited Italy, England and Scotland.
Her cancer came back in March 1999. It had metastasized to her stomach. Years of chemotherapy “probably gave her a few more years,” Ciraldo said. ”
Debbie Ciraldo died at home on Feb. 15, 2001.
All of the Ciraldo children, spouses and grandchildren — one named after Debbie — come back to town each year for the race. Jessie Licata, the couple’s second-youngest child, said it’s cathartic to see so many walkers and racers come out.
“I know she’s gone, but she’s still with us in that way with all the people who come together and remember her,” Licata said.
“Our catchphrase is ‘Celebrate Life’ — it is a celebration of my mom. It’s a happy thing. We’re not sitting around and crying,” she said. “We’re happy for what we had. We’re happy for the friends and family to remember her and continue this tribute for her and working toward finding this cure.”