Alexandria’s Pat Malone will stand up to cancer for 24 hours straight starting this Thursday (Feb. 10) at Fire Works Pizza in Arlington.
The event starts at 4:26 p.m. Thursday and ends at the same time on Friday.
“Standing up so long thoroughly wears me out,” Malone told ALXnow. “People tell me afterward that I look like I got hit by a bus.”
It’s the eighth annual fundraiser for the 64-year-old Malone, who has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Stand Up To Cancer nonprofit.
“The event is very heartfelt,” Malone said. “There are people that are suffering with cancer who can’t stand up and are bedridden or in a wheelchair.”
Donations can be made on Malone’s GoFundMe page.
The 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran has been cancer-free for nearly eight years since undergoing a successful surgery to remove a Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He also had 29 chemotherapy treatments.
“It was like a second birth,” Malone said of his successful surgery. “My birthday is August 12, but February 11 is like a second birthday for me because people at Walter Reed saved my life. I get choked up.”
Donors and survivors will have their names written on paper Stand Up To Cancer plaques, which will be posted on a window of the restaurant.
“On Friday morning there will be anywhere from 50 to 100 plaques there,” Malone said. “I’ll look at those names, and I’ll be by myself sometimes. Quite often, actually, and I have a prayer list and I look at those names and I cry like a baby.”
Fifty percent of men and about 33% of women will get cancer in their lifetimes, according to The National Cancer Institute.
