About
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About Noor
12 years ago, at the age of 5, I was diagnosed with stage 4 Wilms’ tumor, a rare cancer of the kidney. The doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering saved my life, using a protocol they had developed in NYC for my particular tumor, with the funds raised from an organization called Cycle for Survival. Cycle for Survival is a movement created by Jennifer and David Linn to raise money for research and clinical trials for rare cancers. Rare cancers don’t get the same funding that more popular cancers receive, so it’s harder to get clinical trials to understand how to cure them. When they founded the organization, Jennifer was suffering from malignant fibrous histiocytoma sarcoma and the cancer was so rare, nobody had studied or researched it. If there were more clinical trials, the doctors may have been able to save her life. So, she started a fundraiser where people create teams and come together to cycle on indoor bikes to raise money. From the humble beginnings of one spin class in a gym that raised a few hundred thousand dollars, until today, Cycle for survival has raised over $315MM since 2007!
When I became cancer free, my parents committed that they would support this organization, because the funds used from the research directly allowed the doctors to know what to do to save my life. Our team, Noor’s Army, has been riding and raising money for the last 13 years. They called the team Noor’s Army because I believed I was a “warrior princess” when I was going through my treatment, so everyone who rode on my behalf when I was in the hospital was my “Army”. Three years ago, at the age of 12, when I could finally understand the seriousness of what had happened to me, I asked my parents if I could take over leadership of Noor’s Army to see if I could help us raise $1MM by our 10th anniversary. Over the last three years, I have worked hard to recruit new team members, fundraise on my own and run all the logistics for our team annually. I’m proud to say that last year, on our 10 year anniversary, in front of over 500 people at the Cycle For Survival event in Central Park, I gave a speech and announced that we had become only the 27th team in Cycle for Survival’s history to hit $1MM. To me, this cause has become bigger than me and I am incredibly honored to be a part of helping cure rare cancers so all other kids can look cancer in the eyes and say “Not this time cancer. I win. You lose.”
About Cancer Echoes
Mission: Cancer Echoes aims to create a space for those involved at any point in the journey of the cancer experience - whether it’s doctors, patients, family-members, researchers and - most often forgotten - caregivers.
Vision: Our vision is to normalize the reality of both having cancer or knowing someone who is experiencing cancer
Future Plans: We hope to scale our impact by sharing these powerful stories widely.
Timeline
Diagnosis
Primary diagnosis of stage IV Wilm's Tumor. Noor was in the hospital for about eleven months receiving various treatments like chemo, radiation, insert ports, and multiple blood tests.
2012
Treatment ended in January of 2013 after a long year of heavy treatment. At the end of her chemo and radiation she received a kidney removal surgery and began her remission.
Remission
2013
Cycle For Survival
2013
In 2020, Noor decided she wanted to gain control of the team's analytics and social media handle. Over the past six years, the family has gained over 50 team members, making the team close to 65 participants. Noor continued to manage outreach and donations for her and her family.
Gained Captaincy of Noor's Army
2020
Decade Ride
2022 was Noor's Army's decade ride where they passed the $1M mark in funds over the past ten years.
2022
As of now, Noor continues to fundraise both outside and inside of school with her own club titled "Challenge Cancer." She continues to stay committed to Cycle For Survival, speaking each year at the event and continuing to share her story.
Happening Now
2024
That same year Noor and her family discovered Cycle For Survival - a NPO dedicated to raising money for rare cancer research. They soon created their own team titled "Noor's Army" and began the fundraising Journey. During their first year they raised over $20K in donations.
That same year Noor and her family discovered Cycle For Survival - a NPO dedicated to raising money for rare cancer research. They soon created their own team titled "Noor's Army" and began the fundraising Journey. During their first year they raised over $20K in donations.
Over the past 12 years, I have spoken at ten of the Cycle For Survival events. Here is the most recent speech. To learn more about Cycle For Survival and all the amazing things they do, visit: https://www.cycleforsurvival.org/ or click the link below