One man is walking 3,500 miles with an IV pole for childhood cancer

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – 3,500 miles total. One man is walking 25 miles a day to reach that goal and ultimately fight for childhood cancer. 

Kevin Fern is walking from California to Boston Children’s Hospital with an IV pole to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer camps. When he was 16 years old, Fern was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and said going to camp changed his life. As he’s gotten older, Fern said he realized he needed to do something in a big way to try to give a helping hand.

“Raising awareness again and having an opportunity and a platform to be able to get the message out that childhood cancer camps are so important to the psycho social healing of a child,” said Fern on why raising awareness on camps is so important to him.

Fern is the first person to walk across America with an IV pole. He said it’s symbolic to him because he didn’t like pushing it as he was going through chemo, so he wants people to realize it’s not an easy task for the children to do.

Fern carries wristbands on his pole that have children’s names on them who have lost their lives or have survived through cancer. On his tough days, he thinks about those names and continues to push through.

“So I start to think about the kids that are on here and it’s a powerful thing when you put your mind on someone else and on someone else’s life, their struggle,” explained Fern. “I think about their families because their families are here living with the pain.”

Fern and his wife began this trip in March and will end in Boston on November 2nd. He said this is not about him – it’s about the children and their struggles they go through. Fern said the most rewarding part is that they’ve brought people together in a community where everyone can support one another. You can follow his journey at kevinsivpole.com.