Helicopter company gives pediatric cancer patient and cyclists the ride of a lifetime

A father and daughter biking team is cycling from Canada to Mexico all to raise money for pediatric cancer, they’re getting there with the help of a local helicopter company.

They started their journey a little more than 20 days ago, with one goal in mind, “raise money for children’s cancer research fund, kids with cancer. And that was kind of our main goal coming down the coast,” says Jerad Cardoza.

His daughter and fellow cyclist Katelyn Cardoza says, “we just want to help people, cause it’s the right thing to do and if you’re doing something, go big.”

This week they are headed through the Central Coast, but crossing the Mud Creek Slide on Highway one was going to be a challenge.

“We knew about the mudslide, we knew we it was going to be impossible to pass it on our own but we didn’t want to miss going down this incredible part of the coast,” says Jerad.

That’s when they reached out to the Watsonville based aviation company Specialized Helicopters. The company was on board right away.

“Its such a compelling story I mean riding a bike, struggling with cancer, and all these other things that are going on I mean this is a family and child thing. It’s not just one issue it’s everybody’s issue and if there’s anything I can do to bring awareness to that, I think that’s a mission in life,” says Chris Gularte with Specialized Helicopters.

Gularte offered their services with no cost, but the generosity didn’t stop there.

The company also offered to give a pediatric cancer patient a tour of the coast as well. “He (Gularte) thought so heck if we’re going to make this ride down the coast, he was the one that made the suggestion, what if we give a child whose battling cancer, why don’t we give them a ride as well,” says Jerad.

They found 12 year old Ben Lauer who was diagnosed with cancer in 2016. He is now in the maintenance stage and goes to the hospital for chemo once a month.

He says he’s wanted to ride in a Helicopter ever since he saw them from his hospital window, “I wanna see the world from up high.”

On Wednesday the Lauers and Cardozas met between helicopter rides, before the Cardozas were on their way.

“You know it’s one thing to see dollars get raised, to see dollars on an online donations site, but it’s another thing to see kids. And to see that there’s a reason why we’re doing this,” says Jerad.

The Cardoza’s still have about 450 miles to go. So far they have raised close to $20,000 and are now peddling for more.

To donate to pediatric cancer, or follow the Cardoza’s trip click here.

To check out Specialized Helicopters click here.