WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — This Saturday, you can hop on your Harley and head to Montezuma for a special bike ride fundraiser.
Macon County Commissioner Bob Melvin is battling multiple myeloma. It's a rare excruciating process to battle.
“I just never thought at 53 I'd be in a situation with cancer," he admitted.
But with a little help from his friends, Bob is helping others in the same shoes.
It's a Friday morning, which means it's chemo treatment time for Bob. He's living with a demon inside: Multiple Myeloma.
It's a blood cancer that robs your bones of the things they need to be strong. At one point, he dealt with 32 broken vertebrae.
“Basically it robs your body of bone marrow, he explained.
The pain is excruciating. From October to January of this year, he used a walker. He's gone through a stem cell transplant at Emory.
And through all of this, well he's got something else on his plate.
"We gave money to the Central Georgia Cancer Center because they had just started their foundation which is to help other people pay for their medicines and treatments," he said.
The cost of care can be as much of a burden as cancer itself. When he got the initial diagnosis, his friends offered to do something. They came up with Bikers for Bob.
They raised a few thousand bucks and donated about a third of that to the Cancer Center in Warner Robins.
“We're going to stop in Marshallville, we're going to stop in Montezuma and we're going to stop in Unadilla," he said speaking about this years plan.
He's got friends to take care of a lot of details, but Bob's job is to tell his story of hope and reality.
“Talking to the mayors of different cities saying we're going to pull into your city and we want to have a talk about cancer," he said.
The man who loves the Falcons uses their ‘Rise Up’ saying as a mantra. He's got a giving spirit and a fierce will to help others going through the fight of their lives.
Melvin wants to urge everyone to get a yearly if not a bi-annual physical.
When his cancer began in his back he figured it was just arthritis.
Saturday's bike ride begins in Montezuma at the Flint River Farms Community Park.
It's $25 dollars to cruise, and registration begins at 8:30 a.m. that morning.
If you'd like more information, they have a Bikers for Bob Facebook page.
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