Drivers Willing To Give A Lift To Cancer Patients Needed

By Kathy Walsh

DENVER (CBS4) - The American Cancer Society needs drivers to help get patients on the road to recovery. They are asking for volunteers to give people with cancer a lift to and from treatment.

They say it's an opportunity to save lives with your passenger seat.

Winona Conca and Betty Bobo met for the first time Tuesday. Wednesday marked the second time Concha has hitched a ride with Bobo to radiation treatment for cancer.

"I discovered in September, a lump on my breast," said Conca.

The 65-year-old doesn't drive because of tremors. Conca said her son took her to six chemotherapy sessions, but she needed radiation every day for six weeks.

"I did panic," Conca told CBS4 Health Specialist Kathy Walsh, "What am I going to do? How am I going to get radiation?"

Bobo and other drivers to the rescue! The volunteers with the American Cancer Society Road to Recovery program provide free transportation for cancer patients to and from treatment. Bobo is a breast cancer survivor.

"God let me live and be able to move forward with my life and resilience and now, it's my turn to pay that forward," Bobo said.

Samantha Thompson with the American Cancer Society explained, "We have about 85 drivers right now, but we need more."

Thompson said, since January, they've had to turn down 600 ride requests.

Walsh asked what happens with those people? Thompson answered, "A lot of them stop treatment."

Conca has made it to just four more days of radiation. She's indebted to her drivers. She hopes others will donate their passenger seats. She knows every lift could help save a life.

People interested in volunteering should contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345 or visit www.cancer.org/drive.

Kathy Walsh is CBS4's Weekend Anchor and Health Specialist. She has been with CBS4 for more than 30 years. She is always open to story ideas. Follow Kathy on Twitter @WalshCBS4.