Sandy Savage sees the ripple effects of cancer throughout her community. This year, as part of Elaine’s Legacy Riders, one of the top fundraising teams for this year’s BMO Ride for Cancer, Sandy rides in honour of her son, Nicholas, and her friend Elaine Stewart and Elaine’s daughter Michelle Hennessey. Together they keep their legacies going and assemble to generate hope and positivity as they peddle forward.
“Part of my healing — part of our healing — is moving forward and doing things in honor of Nick and doing things that will keep him in people’s memories. So, this is really important to that as well.”
Sandy’s oldest son was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in March of 2023. He was 27 at the time.
“While I was at the QEII’s VG [Victoria General Hospital] with Nicholas…I would run into Elaine Stewart in the hallways,” says Sandy.
Elaine is a longtime friend of Sandy’s, and one of the initial members of their local cycling group: Women on Wheels Truro (WoW).
“And while we were there, you know…you get to know the other families in the little kitchenette making yourself a cup of tea,” says Sandy. “You’re in the family room just to get a break, and you meet families whose loved ones had used the treatment technologies that had been brought to that hospital because of the funds raised through this ride.”
During the time Elaine and Nicholas were undergoing cancer treatment, Elaine’s daughter, Michelle, was also diagnosed with cancer.
It’s this community — all the families and fighters Sandy has met — that is at the forefront of her mind now as she gears up for her first-ever BMO Ride. While not all individuals have a positive outcome, Sandy knows firsthand the value of the QEII Cancer Centre, the services, the care team, and the people that need these supports.
“I’ve been sponsoring, you know, donating to people [who have ridden this event in the past] because I just believed in the cause. Not knowing that one day we would be there,” says Sandy.
With more than $15 million net raised to date for the QEII Cancer Centre by the BMO Ride for Cancer community, participants and donors are impacting the journeys of nearly every cancer patient who receives their diagnosis, treatment or follow-up care at the QEII.
Sandy describes how this support boomeranged back to her and her networks since Nicholas’ diagnosis in 2023. As part of that full circle moment, she’s currently in the top five individual fundraisers for the 2026 BMO Ride for Cancer.
When reflecting on their experience with the cancer centre at the QEII, and the reasons for supporting all the work and individuals in the ward, Sandy says:
“Hopefully, you know what? They [people] never need to use the services. They never need to go to an appointment there. But they need to know that if they or someone they love or someone they care for or someone they know does require care for cancer, they will get exceptional care. And the more we can do to give those caregivers tools in this fight, then every cent is worth considering donating.”
Sandy’s been riding with the WoW Truro chapter since 2019. What started to get out and enjoy the outdoors developed into a brilliant community of friendship and support. The impact of this has gone farther than Sandy could have imagined, as the group rises at each opportunity to uplift one another. It was this very group – at the visitation for Elaine at a local funeral home – where they first championed assembling a team for the BMO Ride.
“I was humbled. And, I’m not going to say I was surprised because family and friends have been so supportive since Nicholas’s diagnosis and with his passing, and I knew that they would keep on supporting. To me, this is still part of Nicholas’s cancer journey. We’re still doing stuff in honor of him, and always will, of course.”
The first team ride for the WoW Truro group is in May, and Sandy will be out training as soon as the weather improves. Sandy only sees the support for her fundraising growing beyond the initial response – she’s already had to increase her fundraising goal twice.
Despite her nerves of this being her first BMO Ride, Sandy is determined: “The support will get me there…I found strength and resilience that I really didn’t know I had. But, these situations can bring out all or all kinds of things in you, right? Good and bad. So I’m taking the good stuff and running with it. We’re riding with it, I guess.”
Register now for the 2026 BMO Ride for Cancer Grand Finale event, taking place on Saturday, October 3, 2026. To donate to rider, like Sandy, click here.
Proudly hosted by the QEII Foundation, BMO Ride for Cancer is one of Canada’s top five peer-to-peer cycling events. Since 2015, our BMO Ride for Cancer community has raised over $15 million net (and counting!) to fund cancer-fighting technology, equipment and spaces at the QEII Health Sciences Centre. This is the final year for the BMO Ride for Cancer.
