NORTH WHITEHALL TOWNSHIP, Pa. \u2014 13-year-old Carter Boyle rode 31 miles alongside his grandfather, Paul, during the ninth annual Great Big Group Ride, a charity cycling event Sunday that raised money for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n
The ride began and ended at Independence Park in North Whitehall Township, bringing together nearly 150 cyclists to support local children battling cancer and their families.<\/p>\n
For Carter, the ride was more than a challenge on two wheels. It was a way to give back to the organization that supported him and his family during his own cancer journey.<\/p>\n
Carter was diagnosed with liver cancer when he was 2 years old. Now a survivor, he participated in the event to help raise money for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley, which provides financial, social and emotional support to children with cancer and their families.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was tough with the hills for sure,\u201d Carter said. \u201cBut I\u2019m glad I was able to do it. It was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter\u2019s mother, Casey Boyle, said her son has always enjoyed riding bikes with his father and grandfather. She said the entire family continues to support him, just as they did during his cancer treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole family is here. All the grandmas, grandpas, brothers. Everybody\u2019s here,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were here for his surgery and his cancer battle and they\u2019re here now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter\u2019s grandfather said the work done by the foundation has made a meaningful difference for families facing childhood cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe organization does so much for these kids,\u201d Paul Boyle said. \u201cWe\u2019re very thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter\u2019s mother said the 13-year-old was the youngest participant to complete the 31-mile course.<\/p>\n
Carter said he hopes his experience encourages other children facing similar challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say just keep going. It\u2019s going to get better,\u201d Carter said. \u201cMaybe come try something like this. Do something to make yourself happy during the times. It\u2019s rough, but it gets better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nearly 150 cyclists took part in this year\u2019s event, with every mile helping raise funds for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NORTH WHITEHALL TOWNSHIP, Pa. \u2014 13-year-old Carter Boyle rode 31 miles alongside his grandfather, Paul, during the ninth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[214,232,153,155,154],"class_list":["post-247431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-_homepage_top_stories","tag-allentown-area","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}