From Doctor to Patient Advocate
How Steven Wilkins Turned His Cancer Journey Into Action on Empire State Ride
For decades, Steven Wilkins helped patients navigate some of the most difficult moments of their lives. As a surgeon, he was used to explaining diagnoses, outlining treatment plans and guiding families through uncertainty.
About a year and a half ago, Steven found himself on the other side of that conversation, hearing the words he had delivered to others so many times before:
You have cancer.
When the Doctor Becomes the Patient
A diagnosis of thyroid cancer, followed soon after by prostate cancer, placed him in an unfamiliar role: the patient.
As a surgeon, Steven had spent his career helping others. Suddenly finding himself on the other side of care was an adjustment and he knew he didn’t want to be passive in the process.
“As a surgeon who doesn’t really like to sit still, I wanted to do something besides just be a patient,” Steven said. “I’ve spent my life taking care of cancer, and now that I have it myself, I felt like at least something good could come from it.”
He kept coming back to that thought: “something good.”
“As a surgeon who doesn’t really like to sit still, I wanted to do something besides just be a patient. I’ve spent my life taking care of cancer, and now that I have it myself, I felt like at least something good could come from it.”
Finding Purpose After a Cancer Diagnosis
Cancer had already left its mark on his family. When his mother passed away from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Steven and his three children ran a marathon in her honor.
“It gave us something to do as a family, and it meant something,” he said. “Twenty years later, I had to think of another thing I could do of that magnitude. I can’t run a marathon anymore, but I’m a biker, so this feels like something I can do.”
That “something” is Empire State Ride — 500 miles across New York State to fuel lifesaving cancer research.
Riding 500 Miles to Advance Cancer Research
Exercise has long been part of Steven’s life. He plays daily tennis matches, ran a marathon and even made it a tradition to complete long-distance rides with his family while growing up. Movement has always been how he challenges himself. But this ride carries a different weight.
He had heard about Empire State Ride through Suffolk Bicycle Riders Association, a local cycling club. What he hadn’t fully realized was the magnitude of the ride’s impact.
“What I wasn’t aware of beforehand was what a high fraction of the research was funded by fundraisers like this,” Steven explained. “And once I found that out, it added to why I wanted to assist in fundraising.”
For Steven, research isn’t an abstract concept. He’s seen what it makes possible. He’s watched treatments improve. He’s also seen what happens when options run out.
Seeing the Impact of Cancer Research Firsthand
Now, as he prepares for his first Empire State Ride, every mile feels personal. He rides thinking about the patients he once treated, about his mother, about his own children and about the families who will face diagnoses in the future.
Five hundred miles won’t erase a diagnosis. But it can help fuel the research that changes what a diagnosis means and gives patients more options. And that keeps Steven riding strong.
Ride stronger with Steven. Join him for two days from Weedsport to Niagara Falls, tackle the 500+ Mile Hometown Challenge or join the Priority Registration List for 2027.
The idea of dragon slaying came to Phil during his first year riding in Empire State Ride. Phil had just reached Albany and found himself faced with a hill that seemed to stretch for miles. At the end of the hill was the next camp. To get there, however, he had to climb for what felt like forever. His legs were wiped halfway up, but he kept pushing and pushing.
Diana’s decision to participate in Empire State Ride comes less than a year after her treatments ended. She’s honoring not only herself, but her sister-in-law who survived non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, her mother-in-law who is a two-time survivor of cervical cancer and her daughter for whom she has always fought.
