Put Your Body Where Your Heart Is

A newly married doctor is personally touched by cancer and motivated to make a difference. What did he decide to do? This marathon virgin decided to do a triathlon – talk about Go Big or Go Home!

Mihir Patel was married in the summer of 2015 to Amee Desai. A few months after their wedding, Amee’s mom, Rajeshwari Desai, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Amee’s mom is a newly retired, well-respected OB/GYN physician in Liverpool, England. Being doctors, both Amee’s mom and Mihir knew what this diagnosis meant and how serious a fight she had ahead.

Doctors had confirmed the family’s worst fear – Amee’s mom would most likely need a bone marrow transplant post chemo. They continued to explain finding a South Asian match is often difficult due to lack of representation in the registries across the world. Amee’s family immediately started testing family members for a viable match. They travelled back and forth to England as much they could and Amee spent several months there.

When back home in NY, Mihir was determined to help in any way he could. Finding a match for Amee’s mom while raising awareness was at the forefront of his mind. He took the lead on doing bone marrow drives for his mother-in-law and other patients in similar situations. With the help of family and friends volunteering with him, he registered 50 new bone marrow donors via Delete Blood Cancer and S.A.M.A.R. for the US National Bone Marrow Registry (Be the Match). After hosting these drives, he knew firsthand how one person can make an impact.

A few months later, Mihir signed up for the New York City Triathlon in honor of his mother-in-law; putting his body where his heart is. He will be joining thousands of athletes to brave the waters of the mighty Hudson River before biking along Manhattan’s West Side highway. Finally, they will put on their running shoes for a run through Central Park in the final stage of this iconic race.

Hoping to make an even bigger impact, he has joined under Delete Blood Cancer and set a fundraising goal of $10k. This week he not only hit that goal but surpassed it! Mihir is being joined by good friend Rahul Arya. Rahul has completed Marathons and Triathlons before but wanted to support Mihir and the cause. Together they created Team R.E.D.D. which is an acronym to include the initials of two of the strongest women they know: Rajeshwari Desai and Ekata Doshi.

Good Luck Mihir & Rahul, we will be out there supporting you with your families!

“His determination for the cause shows me that if we all had this determination we can raise awareness and money for a cure. The happiness, positivity and constant support from Mihir over the past few months has made this process a lot easier.” – Amee Desai Patel

Click to Support Team R.E.D.D.  http://giving.deletebloodcancer.org/goto/teamredd