McLean Family to Swim this Weekend to Celebrate Mother’s Life

This Sunday, September 17^th, the Rocks family of McLean will lead a team of nearly 50 family and friends in an open water swim to raise money and awareness for cancer research at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. The group, named Team ROCK ON!, is taking part in the eighth annual Swim Across America/Baltimore fundraiser at Hide Tide Farm in Pasadena to celebrate the life of their mother, Cristy, who passed away in 2016 after a two-year battle with colon cancer.

Siblings Sammy, Emma, Hanna and Trevor will be swimming either the one mile or three-mile courses, while their father, Tony, will be cheering everyone on from the banks of the Magothy River. The family first became involved with the organization in 2014 when their mother was initially diagnosed. Cristy was treated at Hopkins and Sammy, a nurse there, oftentimes found her mother being cared for on her floor in the ICU. The family credits Hopkins for extending Cristy’s life by two years, so it was only natural that they formed a team. In their first year, Team ROCK ON! raised $68,000. This year, they are going for $75,000.

“Our mother opened up our home to everybody. She didn’t realize how much she meant to all our friends and family until they signed up so quickly to swim for her,” said Sammy. “We will always be grateful that she got to be there that first time, to see everyone in the water, supporting her and her fight."

“This is such a special weekend, and it’s because of families like the Rocks,” said Annie Applegarth, co-chair of SAA/Baltimore. “We all know someone who has been impacted by this disease, and to come together for the day, on the beautiful waters of the Magothy, to celebrate their bravery, battles and lives is truly inspiring.”

Swim Across America/Baltimore has donated more than $3 million to the Center since coming to the area in 2010. Research conducted with the money has received worldwide attention including the discovery of a genetic biomarker that may accurately predict who will respond to certain immunotherapy drugs and the development of a genomic-based test for ovarian and endometrial cancers using fluid collected from routine pap tests.

More information on SAA/Baltimore and Team ROCK ON! can be found at: http://www.swimacrossamerica.o...