ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) —This weekend, thousands of runners will take on the New York City Marathon, but for one local man, he’s running to turn his loss into purpose. News10’s Tyanna Xaver spoke with Peter Gryga about how he’s running in memory of his sister he lost and in support of the community that helped him during that time.
When Peter was 10 years old his sister Sarah was diagnosed with a form of leukemia, she was 16 at the time. It happened while their family was visiting relatives in Seattle.
Before that trip, doctors near their home in Glens Falls couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her until she had a flare up in Seattle that revealed she had leukemia.
When News10’s Tyanna Xavier asked Gryga what kind of toll that took on her being diagnosed with cancer at such a young age he responded, “She was always very high spirited, and she never really showed that she wasn’t to me at least. She was always still a big sister that was very supportive,” said Gryga.
Even though both of them were putting on a brave face, it was hard not spending that time together like they used to.
“I skied with her a lot so obviously it was hard probably not skiing with her that year, but I remember she would always still go to my lacrosse games even when she was sick,” said Gryga.
Sarah unfortunately passed when she was 18. During that time she was sick Gryga was going to Cindy’s Comfort Camp at Double H Ranch. A camp to help 6-16 years old who experienced either a loved one who was sick or has passed away. This is all free of charge.
“It allows children to be part of a community where any sort of barriers kind of go to the side because everyone there is managing some sort of medical condition and sometimes it’s visible and sometimes it’s not. But it’s really about that camaraderie, working together, being accepting and showing confidence in ways they’ve never felt before,” said Maura Mack Hisgen, Vice president of Development Marketing and Communications.
“I fell in love with it,” said Gryga. “When I was 16, I was a ski instructor, I was a CIT (counselor in training) when I was in high school and then I was a summer counselor for two full summers as well.”
Because of how much the camp helped him, Gryga wanted to give back. He has been training for the NYC Marathon since March and is going to be running it with five other volunteers.
Alone Gryga raised $12,000, but as a collective with the team…
“As a team we’ve reached $30,000. So, I can say we’ve hit our goals that we we set out this year,” said Gryga.
“All of the money raised is to go directly to a lot of our general operating expenses that we incur and to continue to be able to offer this programming free of charge,” Hisgen.
“She was always proud of everything I did, and I know she’d be proud of what we’re doing,” said Gryga.
This Marathon starts this Sunday and is 26.2 miles long. Gryga hopes to finish around three hours and thirty mins. If you would like to donate go to the Double H Ranch website.
