DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Inspired by his close friend and colleague Crystal Ortner, who was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer two years ago, Matthew Jalazo became an advocate of spreading awareness about the disease.
The 51-year-old psychologist, army veteran and testicular cancer survivor took off Saturday for the ‘Daytona 100,’ a 100-mile ultramarathon, which is in unison with the National Virtual Walk (‘Walk A Mile or More in Crystal’s Shoes) to raise awareness for colon cancer, the second leading cause for cancer-related deaths.
Crystal Ortner’s been an advocate for cancer awareness her entire life. At the age of 34, she was diagnosed with stage four Colon Cancer.
After six chemotherapy treatments, HIPEC surgery, colon resection and six additional rounds of chemo as a precaution, she was declared ‘No Evidence of Disease.’
However, 16 months later, during the summer of 2021, she experienced a recurrence of colon cancer.
When Mathew Jalazo found out, he immediately picked up her mantle, creating a movement to inform others of this silent cancer, which is now affecting younger people. He’s lost three close friends to various types of cancers in the past six years and wanted to take a stand, he said.
“As a cancer survivor myself and understanding how that feels and wanting to be able to do things and not being able to do them because you’re too weak, I just decided to pick up the mantle and advocate for her,” Jalazo said.
One of the ways Jalazo is spreading awareness is through this ultramarathon, which began at 6 a.m. on Saturday near the One Ocean Resort and Spa in Atlantic Beach and ends Sunday at the Ponce Inlet, just south of Daytona Beach.
Along with this, he’s created a GoFundMe to raise money for the Colon Cancer Coalition. His goal is to raise $50,000 and so far, he’s raised $15,000.
“In my efforts to sort of pick that mantle up and do that for her, I came to learn a lot about not just the illness and my own risk factors,” Jalazo said. “But I really became close with several members of the colon cancer community and seeing that this is really a much broader problem in terms of younger people getting the illness.”
While this started as a way for Jalazo to help his friend, Crystal, it’s helped him as well. In the past few years, during the COVID-19 pandemic, his faith in other people began to waiver. He explained that he noticed a lack of kindness and empathy. But these new relationships, along with the kindness he’s seen in people who he had limited relationships with in the past, who stepped up to help him in his journey, gave him a newfound hope in people in this world.
Crystal Ortner is NED again and recovering from her second round of stage four colon cancer.