TUCSON, Ariz. — A bone cancer survivor is walking across America for a cause near and dear to his heart.
Cody O'Connor is walking over 3,700 hundred miles to raise awareness and money for pediatric cancer. On Friday, O'Connor stopped at Tucson Police headquarters and the Diamonds Children Center at Banner University Medical Center.
O'Connor is no stranger to adversity. He was diagnosed with bone cancer at age 14 and told he may never walk again. After battling it for a year, he's now ten years in remission.
"Going through the battle I saw that my family was going through eviction and divorce, file bankruptcy," O' Connor said. "I wondered where food was coming from and I didn't think that was fair. It's not fair that kids have to fight cancer and they have to fight all those other ailments of life."
Every day O'Connor walks about 22 miles. Along his trip he's been stopping to meet with families battling the darkness of cancer. The journey all in spite of dealing with the remnants of his cancer.
Meet Cody O’Connor he’s walking more than 3,700 miles, all for a fantastic cause. I’ll have more on his journey tonight at 6:00 pm on @kgun9 @Tucson_Police @BannerUnivMed @BannerHealth #Cancer #PediatricCancer #Children #Tucson #Arizona pic.twitter.com/sM2fLUtrAE
— Denelle Confair (@DenelleConfair) March 25, 2022
"There's not a day that I'm not reminded that I beat cancer,"O'Connor said. "My foot rolls on the outside, I have a hip imbalance because of that. I have a lower back pain because of that. My feet themselves because of walking, just hurt. But especially that one whole side of my right foot. We've gone through about 17 pairs of shoes."
His trip proving to be worth the pain, raising money for families coping with cancer.
"I just want to be able to have the network to be able to fund numerous families battles and that's my goal," O'Connor said.
O' Connor has raised over $90,000, he hopes to complete his journey by April 29th at the Santa Monica pier.
If you'd like to follow his journey, click here.
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