On Saturday, November 1, 2014, I volunteered and photographed PurpleStride Philadelphia for the
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. It was the 5th function that I had photographed for the organization (as my free gift). I have also photographed functions in Washington, D.C. and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and this walk/run twice now in Philadelphia. I donate my time and photography (and do it with pride) in honor of my late father, Dr. Samuel Heard, who was an emergency room physician who passed away from pancreatic cancer in January 2006. November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month so please wear purple in honor of this cause and spread the word about this horrible disease. PurpleStride is one of the largest pancreatic cancer fundraisers in the country and it raised almost $700,000 that day for the cause. It took place in Philadelphia's Fairmont Park at the Please Touch Museum. Mother Nature wasn't very kind to us that day giving us horizontal rain the whole time I was there and it was around 40 degrees with 30 mph winds. The pictures were very hard to take with me having to put my camera gear in a plastic bag and I was unable to look through the eye piece or manually focus like I normally do or look through the viewfinder screen to see how the pictures were turning out. These are the best ones from the day after a LOT of retouching trying to get rid of a lot of the rain drops from off the pictures from so much water on my camera lens. Many of the photos look like they are foggy or glowing due to all the condensation in my camera. So I apologize. These photos are not up to par with my usual quality of work but I wanted to share them with you for the meaning behind the event. There were still almost 5,000 people that came out and stayed out in the horrible weather because they have lost a loved one to this horrible disease. There is a photo of survivors and sadly that is all the survivors that were in attendance because most people don't survive this disease. In fact most are gone within less than 1 year from being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and 99 percent are gone within 5 years of being diagnosed. So, those of us who are left behind are left to carry on the memory of our lost loved ones and to do all the fundraising we can to bring awareness to one of the deadliest forms of cancer in our country.
The t-shirts worn by the runners and walkers.
There are contests for people's outfits
with the most purple spirit.
Volunteers checking in people at the registration table.
The survivor's tent with gifts
People standing in the rain as the opening ceremonies
begin to take place.
The survivor's photo. 15 people out of 5,000 who have
survived pancreatic cancer. Such a daunting statistic.
The master of ceremonies - a local news anchor - who
also lost her father to pancreatic cancer.
A woman giving her story of battling pancreatic cancer.
Raising the banners - "Know It! Fight It! End It!"
Runners/walkers at the starting line.
People watching the race begin in front of
the Please Touch Museum.
I loved this runner's creative usage of the color purple.
The purple Teletubby!
The next few photos are of different teams for the race.
A large team in front of the Please Touch Museum.
Here is a photo of me at the event - volunteers wear
white t-shirts while the participants wear purple t-shirts.
I was soaked through all 4 layers of clothing I had on after
being in the cold, pouring down rain for a few hours.
I also had an assistant who carried my camera equipment
in water-proof bags for me to help out for the event.
