AUSTIN, Texas — It's about 80 miles from Austin to San Antonio. Jim Hickey, a retired U.S. Marine, is getting there on foot.
Hickey said it's going to take 11 days to get to his destination if he keeps up his pace, but this isn't anything he hasn't done before. Hickey has walked more than 9,000 miles in the last 26 years for cancer research and awareness.
“Everybody bikes,” Hickey said. “I figured with doing these long distances, then it's gonna raise more awareness for cancer.”
Hickey took his first trek in 1998 after his father died of prostate cancer.
“I actually saw my dad take his last breath,” Hickey said. “Then if that wasn't bad enough, six months later, my brother was diagnosed with prostate cancer.”
Struggling to deal with his loss, Hickey said he had an urge to "go." It would take him three years to attempt to walk across America for the first time.
“While on my second walk, I heard about a child named Liz Mark Steiner in Cincinnati, Ohio, who had cancer,” Hickey said.
Hickey, who lives in Denver, dedicated that walk to her in 2001. That's how he developed his main objective for the next two decades: walking for childhood cancer. His latest trip is for 9-year-old Stella Serna, making her the 33rd kid he's supported.
“It hurts,” Hickey said. “An adult having cancer is bad enough, but a child hasn't even had a chance to live their life yet. I think there should be more focus on childhood cancer to let those kids become adults.”
Serna's mom, Cynthia Vanegas, said her daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2021.
Despite 35 rounds of radiation treatment and being in and out of the hospital for months, Vanegas said Stella is still a tough cookie. Even when her cancer returned in 2023.
“She had been struggling with some leg pain for about eight months," Vanegas said. "By February, she wasn’t able to walk. So we knew it was more than just growing pains."
Vanegas said they found new tumors at the top of Serna's spine and five more in her brain. She was also diagnosed with lymphoma in the lungs in May.
Vanegas said her daughter is on the mend, but that this cancer journey has changed their whole world, both emotionally and financially. Vanegas quit her job to dedicate more time to care for her daughter.
“You just never think it's going to happen to you,” Vanegas said. “Unfortunately, after being thrown into this world, it's not as rare as everyone thinks. Childhood cancer is a really big issue.”
Vanegas said any support helps, including Hickey's. She said he reached out to their family over social media and they will meet him for the first time at one of San Antonio’s fire stations.
“We're so honored that he's wanting to do this for her and just in general," Vanegas said. "It's spreading so much awareness to childhood cancer, and it means so much. He's battling cancer himself.”
Hickey said he was diagnosed with both bladder and kidney cancer at the same time more than two years ago.
"It was just kind of ironic that I got it while walking for cancer across the country,” Hickey said with a laugh.
Six surgeries have left Hickey a little more tired and his body aching, but his mission is still strong. He said he has a better perspective of the fears and worries having cancer brings, and he hopes others can take a small step to help a child with cancer in their towns.
“I’m carrying my dad's pain, and I’m using his pain to help other people,” Hickey said.
Vanegas has a support page to help raise money for her daughter's medical expenses.