Marathon man
By TONY BRUSCATO • OBSERVER Staff Writer • August 17, 2008

On Thursday, Sean Shearon got a well-deserved rest after walking the equivalent of 18 marathons in 18 days - beginning in Sault Ste. Marie and traveling through Plymouth before concluding his journey in downtown Detroit's Hart Plaza.

The Windsor native and Detroit school teacher was diagnosed with a form of cancer at age 12. His mother, a Michigan native and Detroit Public Schools teacher, lost a 10-year battle with breast cancer. Shearon is hoping his 472-mile pilgrimage will raise $10 million for the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.

My feet are sore, but people I've met along the way who either have had cancer or lost people to cancer helped me know they appreciate what I'm doing," said Shearon, 43, who walked Ann Arbor Trail through Plymouth Township to Kellogg Park in downtown Plymouth Tuesday night, before leaving early Wednesday morning. "The e-mails I've gotten and messages on my blog ... people are just touched by what I'm doing and motivated to do things. One girl told me she was going to do the (Breast Cancer) 3-Day walk as a result."

Shearon didn't receive much attention in many parts of Michigan during his travels, including in Traverse City.

"When I was there most people were more excited to see (singer) Madonna (Ciccone) at the film festival," said Shearon. "Here I was walking to raise money for cancer, which my mother - whose maiden name was Ciccone and a distant cousin of Madonna - died from, and ironically she got all the attention."

But, Shearon is in good spirits knowing he helped bring more attention to the fight against cancer and raise money to fight the disease.

"When you have a goal and are focused and motivated, you just do it," said Shearon. "There have been days I wanted to pack it up, but the people I met along the way kept met going."

For original story click here.

Going the distance
By BEN HARWOOD •SPECIAL TO THE DAILY TRIBUNE • August 17, 2008

There was a moment, somewhere along a county road within the Manistee National Forest, when Sean Shearon thought about quitting.

An infection stemming from a burst blister in his right foot had begun to travel up his leg. Shin splints and swelling in his left foot made it impossible to put on his shoe.

And, despite having already walked for days since leaving Sault Ste. Marie July 27, Shearon still had hundreds of miles and millions of steps left on his journey to Detroit.

"I really, really thought about it," Shearon, 43, said. "But I decided to say 'OK, let's do this.'"

Shearon, whose walk took him through Royal Oak Thursday morning, said it just wouldn't have been right to give up. Quitting has never been part of his nature.

At age 12, Shearon was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer usually afflicting children. Doctors gave him a five percent chance of survival.

After two years of countless radiation and chemotherapy treatments, Shearon defied the odds. He's 43 now and has been cancer free for nearly 30 years.

So Shearon squeezed back into his shoes and persevered - one painful step at a time.

And Thursday evening, he concluded his 450 mile journey at Detroit's Campus Martius Park.

Shearon walked the equivalent of 18 marathons in 18 days, zigzagging across Michigan, to raise awareness about breast cancer prevention and raise money for the Karmanos Cancer Institute. The goal was to raise $10 million, though he's not sure how much has been donated. His journey has been chronicled on his Web site www.thevictorywalk.com.

Thursday's route began at 12 Mile and Drake in Farmington Hills, took him to Royal Oak where he took a brief break before finishing down Woodward into downtown Detroit.

Despite logging hundreds of miles - including limping through much of his final day - he said his journey did not compare to the struggles cancer patients face.

"For me, this is nothing," said Shearon, who lost his mother to breast cancer. "I'm done tonight. I can just rest. People with cancer don't have that option. They have to get up everyday and say 'how am I going to get through this day?'"

Family helped Shearon get through his long days on the road.

Sisters Gail McCarthy and Lisa Lopez took three weeks off from work to follow Shearon's route in a motor home. Every six miles, they would stop to provide a 15 minute resting place.

"I knew this distance was far," said Lopez, a Windsor resident. "But to actually drive it, I was totally flabbergasted."

McCarthy, who was a nurse at St John's Hospital in Detroit before moving to Vancouver, B.C., acted as Shearon's traveling medic.

"I just knew I had to be here," McCarthy said, fighting back tears inside the motor home on Maxwell Street in Royal Oak. "I'm very proud of him. Before I got here, I started crying. I told him 'Sean I can't stop crying, I'm really proud."

She said older brother Shearon had always been like a father to her, after she lost her mom, a Detroit native, at age 11. This time it had been McCarthy, reversing roles, convincing Shearon to see a doctor in Petoskey for his infected foot (antibiotics would eventually take care of the problem).

Traversing the state on foot took months of planning and a year of training. Shearon, who teaches in Detroit, but lives in Windsor, joked that he chose Michigan "because Ontario is just too damn big."

To prepare, Shearon walked four miles a day, five days a week, along with a 20 mile walk on Saturdays. He also lifted weights to strengthen supporting muscles, adding nearly 20 lbs to his 6 foot, 2 inch frame.

By Thursday, Shearon had lost 13 of his 215 lbs.

"My pants are starting to fall down," Shearon said, as he walked south along Main Street in downtown Royal Oak. "But when you're 43, you don't really complain about that."

Shearon left Thursday morning's Royal Oak rest break with a cell phone, Power Bar, water bottle, walking stick and a MP3 player. It was part of a familiar routine that saw each day's winding 26 mile journey open with The Waterboys' "Whole of the Moon".

Shearon's path offered glimpses of small town Americana not seen along I-75. Shearon's route (Mackinac Bridge aside) never followed roads busier than county highways.

In Lake County, about a day after deciding to push on, Shearon met a man selling cherries on the side of the road. He was miles from any house or town.

"He was really just in the middle of nowhere," Shearon said. "I said 'hi' and he asked me where I was going. I told him I was walking to Detroit and he just deadpanned 'oh, that's cool.'"

Shearon took a picture on his cell phone to capture the moment.

There were days where Shearon was that man in the middle of nowhere - walking alone, miles from any town. In those moments, he often considered his future.

"I've put a lot of thought into what I'm going to do afterward," Shearon said.

He thought about cancer and how there's little chance he would have survived his childhood disease if his geographical luck had been different. He said 90 percent of all adolescent cancer cases are in the developing world and only 40 percent are treated.

"The other 60 percent just die," Shearon said. "There's something seriously wrong with that."

So he plans to either start up or work with existing charities that treat and prevent cancer in the developing world.

"If you saw a burning building and had a chance to rescue someone, wouldn't you do it?" Shearon said. "You can't just stand by and watch."

While Shearon looked toward the future, his sisters reflected on the past.

There was little sense of relief, just pride, as Shearon finished his long walk.

"Accomplishment, definitely," Lopez said. "I've always been proud of him, but I'm extremely proud of this effort."

For original story click here.

Trek made to fight breast cancer
BY CHRISTINE FERRETTI • THE DETROIT NEWS • August 14, 2008

DETROIT -- The blisters on Sean Shearon's feet are like a badge of honor.

He anticipated them -- along with the leg cramps and shin splints -- when he set out on a one-man, 450-plus mile trek across the state to raise awareness and millions of dollars for breast cancer.

The sacrifice, he says, is a small price to pay when compared to the gratitude of strangers, support and cash for the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute of Detroit. "We need to do something (about cancer) as a society. We can't just keep waiting for other people to do it. We are all in this together," said Shearon, a teacher at Roberto Clemente Academy in Detroit.

"Inevitably, many more of us are going to experience cancer why not have a preventative attitude ... let's invest in the Karmanos Cancer Institute and maintain a great program for other people that encounter it down the road."

The 43-year-old Windsor resident is gaining acclaim from thousands for The Victory Walk, an 18-day effort to honor cancer survivors and victims. The route spans Sault St. Marie to Woodward in Detroit, where it's expected to conclude around 6 tonight in Campus Martius Park. downtown.

Since July 27, Shearon has been walking across the state. He set a $10 million symbolic goal of generating $1 for each person in the state.

Shearon lost his mother to breast cancer in 1984 and was diagnosed himself with a malignant form of cancer, Rhabdomyosarcoma, at age 12. He has been cancer free since 1980.

Tuesday night he was greeted by about 40 well-wishers in Plymouth's Kellogg Park. "I don't know how you would walk 18 marathons in a row. We were excited to hear he was coming through Plymouth," said Sherrie Pryor, the city's Downtown Development Authority operations director.

On Wednesday, Karmanos officials said the Victory Walk had generated about $3,200 online.

"The Karmanos Cancer Institute is honored to be the recipient of The Victory Walk," said Nick Karmanos, vice president of development.

Shearon said he hopes the movement will evolve into a one-day walkathon for elementary school kids.

For original story click here.
 

Windsor fundraiser finishes 730-kilometre trek
BY REBECCA TURCOTTE • THE WINDSOR STAR • August 14, 2008

With every town and city he walked through, Sean Shearon would find someone who has also been affected by cancer. They shared their stories of the hardships of chemotherapy treatments and losing loved ones at each stop along Shearon's cross-Michigan walk to raise funds for breast cancer research.

"It was a humbling experience," he said of the 730-kilometre trek he completed when he arrived in downtown Detroit Thursday.

Those heartwarming stories pushed the Windsorite to keep walking when it seemed his aching muscles and blistered feet had had enough. He walked eight to 11 hours a day.

"I kept thinking of the pain you go through when you go through chemotherapy and you don't have the option to quit," he said. "This was 18 days to keep going, not a year or two of treatment. It was a constant reminder of why I had to keep going."

Shearon, who survived a battle with childhood cancer, dedicated the walk to his mother Bette, who died when he was 18 years old.

He spent months walking from his home in Forest Glade to the Ambassador Bridge and back to prepare for the journey, dubbed the Victory Walk.

All of the money raised will be donated to the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in downtown Detroit. The facility is home to cutting-edge breast cancer research, including clinical trials of new cancer-treatment medication.

"We just couldn't keep doing what we do without people like Sean," said Patricia Ellis, spokeswoman for the Karmanos Institute. "He is definitely not sitting back. He is taking it upon himself to raise awareness, and he has done just that."

Shearon, a Detroit school teacher, set a lofty goal of raising $10 million for the Karmanos Institute.

He chose to raise funds for that facility because he believes the research conducted will be shared with the rest of the world.

While the final numbers have not been tallied, the money raised is expected to fall considerably short.

But no matter how much money was collected, Shearon calls the Victory Walk a tremendous success.

"I have a great sense of satisfaction knowing I raised awareness and some money for cancer," he said.

"The dollar amount was largely symbolic to challenge people to step forward and give something. I did the best I could."

For original story click here.
 

Cancer survivor walks across state to help others
BY EVA DOU • FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER • July 22, 2008

In 1977, 12-year-old Sean Shearon found a lump on his shoulder. It was cancer.

The next two years meant rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, which put the disease in remission. But just when he thought he had put cancer behind him, it struck again: The summer of 1980, his mother had a relapse of breast cancer. While Shearon survived his battle, his mother did not.

Today Shearon, 42, of Windsor is readying for what he calls the "Victory Walk," a 475-mile walk across Michigan to commemorate all cancer victims and survivors, and to raise money for breast cancer research at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit. "I want to help others going through what I went through," said Shearon, a fifth-grade teacher at Roberto Clemente Academy in Detroit. "A little hope goes a long way."

Shearon's 18-day trek will start Sunday in Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula. He will work his way south, essentially completing a marathon by walking 26 to 30 miles every day, until he reaches Hart Plaza in Detroit on Aug. 13. Along the way, his proposed route will take him through such cities as Traverse City, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield and Royal Oak.

His goal is ambitious: to raise $10 million for breast cancer research. "That's $1 to represent every person in Michigan," he said.

Dr. Steven Ethier, deputy director at Karmanos, said that Shearon's walk is welcome at a time when federal funding for research has fallen. Although the institute holds other types of fund-raisers, Ethier said this is the first personal walk he has heard of for Karmanos research. "One guy doing what he's doing -- that's pretty special," Ethier said.

Shearon said he welcomes anyone who wishes to walk a part of the journey with him.

For original story click here.

"Victory Walk" comes to Petoskey early next week
BY CRISTINA ROHN • NEWS-REVIEW STAFF WRITER • July 22, 2008

His journey — though it is meant to help and inspire others — will be a personal one.

Sean Shearon of Windsor, Canada, whose mother died of breast cancer when he was 18, will embark Sunday on his 18-day, 475-mile “Victory Walk” across Michigan, to raise money for breast cancer research at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.

The 43-year-old teacher for Detroit Public Schools, who is a cancer survivor himself, will begin walking an average of a marathon (26.2 miles) a day in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Sunday, July 27, and plans to finish Wednesday, Aug. 13, in Detroit.

His path will take him down U.S. 31 through Alanson, Petoskey and Charlevoix July 29-30.

Shearon’s goal is to raise $10 million for his efforts, and he says there is a significance to the number.

“There are 10 million people in Michigan,” he said. “Can’t we, as a state, get together and raise a $1 to represent each person?”

Shearon said he realizes economic times are tough, but he has faith in the people of Michigan and faith in the cause.

“In light of difficulties, people can come together and push forward a cause,” he said. “Imagine the people who have cancer right now, and them having that sense of hope knowing that people around them care — as a cancer patient, I know a little bit of hope goes a very long way.

“I’m hoping to motivate people to take part in this and say, maybe I can’t walk the state, but I can give some money,” he said.

Shearon, who fully understands the effect breast cancer has on families, said he wants to do his small part to help others who will be touched by this disease in the future.

“Breast cancer is a killer — it’s out there — it’s tragic. If money needs to be raised, and if hope needs to be given, let’s do it,” he said. “I have very strong feelings in my heart that people are going to rise to the occasion — I’m an optimist.”

Shearon said he chose to walk the state, instead of running or cycling, because he felt it may be something others could relate to.

“I don’t like to run, and cycling’s not my thing, but I can walk,” he said. “I think it’s a good way to reach people — I thought I’d affect more people by walking through their backyards.”

Shearon said he would be more than happy to have others join him on this trip.

“This is something people can do with me and I’d be honored to have the company,” he said.

Shearon said he is getting anxious to begin.

“I’m ready to go right now,” he said. “Physically I’m ready, and spiritually, I feel very at peace with myself. I’m going to do my best and I believe I can do it.”

For original story click here.

A walk to remember - and support
BY REBECCA TURCOTTE • THE WINDSOR STAR • July 06, 2008

Sean Shearon walks from his home in Forest Glade to the Ambassador Bridge and back five mornings a week.

The 43-year old teacher is preparing for the journey of his lifetime -- walking the equivalent of a marathon for 18 consecutive days.

But pushing himself to keep going for eight hours a day won't be difficult, he said. He will be walking across Michigan to raise money for breast cancer research, in memory of his mother.

"I had blisters on top of blisters when I first started walking around 15 miles a day," he said. "But there never was a time where I thought: Why am I doing this?"

Shearon's mother was first diagnosed with breast cancer when he was 10 years old. She did not survive a second bout with cancer, which spread throughout her body.  

"As a child of a breast cancer patient I know how devastating it is for the family," he said. "I give my dad credit for helping us get through it. Even when it felt like the world was upside down he was steady and reassuring."

Just as his mother finished undergoing chemotherapy, Shearon found his own cancerous lump above his collarbone.

Then 12 years old, Shearon had the tumor surgically removed. He then received two years of radiation and chemotherapy at the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre.

"Everyone has a connection to cancer," he said. "I want to inspire people that there is hope if we come together to help those who need it."

Shearon's goal is to raise $10 million -- a dollar for each person in Michigan. The money will be used for breast cancer research at the Karmanos Cancer Institute.

The Detroit facility is considered to be at the forefront of cancer research in the United States.

"People trust and know the organization," he said. "The money stays in Michigan, but the research that goes on at the Karmanos institute is shared with the whole world."

Shearon lives in Windsor, but has strong ties to Michigan. He commutes to Mexicantown for his job teaching fifth grade.

He began training for the walk last August, and has stepped up his work out since school was released for summer.

"I wanted to take up the challenge to do something I feel will help other people and make a difference," he said.

Shearon will begin his Victory Walk on July 27 in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. He plans to finish at Hart Plaza in Detroit on Aug. 13.

For original story click here.