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Resident walks to end women's cancer

A Terrace mother-of-three is gearing up for round two of the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers.
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Erin Bowker ties her laces as she gets ready to train for the Aug. 13-14 Walk to End Women’s Cancers in Vancouver. Bowker needs to raise $2

A Terrace mother-of-three is gearing up for round two of the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers.

The event, formerly known as the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, is a 60 km two-day walk in Vancouver Aug. 13-14.

Erin Bowker participated in the walk seven years ago after losing her stepmother, Katherine Mackee, to cancer the year before.

“The first day it rained so much, I have never been so wet in my life,” Bowker said. “It was brutal, but there were women walking that are in the middle of chemotherapy, and so I knew that if they could do this, so could I.”

Bowker chose to participate in the walk as a way to honor her stepmom’s memory, and her battle with cancer.

“She was the only grandmother my kid’s ever knew from my side of the family,” Bowker said.

“I lost a lot of very important people in my life to cancer so it’s just something I want to do,” Bowker continued.

After torn calf muscles and blisters on her feet in places she had never known before, Bowker completed the 60 km walk and swore it was not something she would be doing again, as she couldn’t walk for days after.

Over time that feeling has changed and she now says she has been wanting to make the journey south to participate again for a few years now.

However, as a busy working mother it is something that has been put on the back burner until now, when Bowker said it was her children who motivated her to make the walk this time.

She has three daughters: Jordan, 14, Riley, 11, and Piper who is 10.

“I have three girls and I don’t want to see them ever go through something like this,” she said in regards to battling cancer.

“I think that might be one of my main motivations,” she added.

“I don’t know what I would do if one of my girls got sick.”

Bowker is now focused on raising the $2,000 required donation to participate in the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers.

Anyone interested in supporting Bowker on her walk can log on to www.endcancer.ca. Once on the site they must choose the Vancouver tab, then click on donate and type in Erin Bowker’s name to add their contribution.

People can also phone Bowker personally at (250) 798-2053.