MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Sasha Stewart (left), arm-in-arm with her oncologist Jennifer Amengual, MD (right), holds the Velocity “C” as she shares her story with the Columbia community at Velocity’s starting line.
Photo by Melanie Einzig
Riders cheer in support of the lifesaving cancer research and care at Columbia, along with the patients and families they serve, during Velocity’s starting line ceremony.
Photo by Melanie Einzig
Stories of Survival: The Velocity Ride
Sasha Stewart, a 2009 Columbia alumna, was working as a comedy writer in New York when she received a cancer diagnosis. What she believed to be an ulcer turned out to be lymphoma, caused by her anti-rejection medication from a kidney transplant 10 years prior.
Returning to Columbia for her cancer treatment, she met oncologist Jennifer Amengual, MD, and began chemo for lymphoma. Dr. Amengual didn’t leave Sasha’s side through her treatment, and the two quickly bonded. “You’re stuck with me for life,” Dr. Amengual explained.
Thanks to Sasha’s courage, the care she received at Columbia, and the strength of her family and friends, she is now in good health following her treatment. Sasha’s story, shared at the 2023 Velocity festival, offers the following reminder: it takes a village. It’s the mission of Velocity to continue telling colorful stories of survival like Sasha’s and support lifesaving cancer research at Columbia.
Each year, patients, families, friends, doctors, healthcare providers, and researchers come together to ride through Hudson Valley with a shared goal: to support Columbia’s mission to end cancer. The 2024 Velocity Ride, held on October 6, brought together over 550 people from across New York and raised more than $1,000,000 to support patient care and groundbreaking research at Columbia’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer. Since its inception in 2017, Velocity has raised over $9,000,000 for cancer research at Columbia.
9M
Velocity is a cycling event through New York’s Hudson Valley that brings together patients, family members, supporters and medical professionals who all have one goal in mind: to help Columbia solve cancer. Since 2017, Velocity has raised over $9,000,000 for cancer research at Columbia.