Some of the world’s top athletes gathered on Zuma Beach on Sunday to take a dip in the Pacific Ocean for the annual Malibu Triathlon to raise money for the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Pediatric Cancer Research Program.
dr. Alan Wayne, director of the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute at CHLA, said the money raised from the event will all go to support cancer research at CHLA.
“We have lost millions of dollars to the COVID-19 pandemic because we had to close a research lab,” Wayne said. “So to keep up the momentum, to develop new therapies and safer therapies for children with cancer, we need to jump-start our research.”
Malakai Carey, a 14-year-old cancer survivor, kicked off the event by singing the national anthem before the participants lined up at the starting line.
Carey was only 11 years old when he was diagnosed with liver cancer.
“A year or two before I found out, I had a lump in my stomach and it bulged out. But multiple doctors, not from CHLA, thought it was just fatty tissue,” Carey told KTLA. “So when I got an ultrasound “Finally after a while, it proved it. And once I went to CHLA, they felt it right away and said it was a tumor.”
dr. James Stein, one of Carey’s doctors who assisted in his treatment, reunited with his patient just before getting ready for the competition.
“I’ve been with CHLA for about 25 years, so for me it’s an annual event that I love. And I love supporting the organization myself,” Stein told KTLA. “It’s one of those unique things about pediatrics. We meet kids when they’re young and watch them grow up and live fulfilling lives.”
Founded in 1901, the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is one of the largest pediatric care providers in LA County. The hospital’s clinical teams treat patients ranging in age from newborn babies to young adults.
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