Man traveling country to raise awareness in honor of late daughter stops in Tri-State

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - A New Jersey man traveling the country on a “journey of hope” to raise awareness about a rare kind of cancer made a stop in the Tri-State on Sunday.

Dave Fleischer celebrated his Father’s Day on the road in honor of his late daughter Sarah Bennett. The 35-year-old woman died after a four-year battle with a rare form of cancer.

“Cholangiocarcinoma is also known as bile duct cancer, and what happens is that the cancer starts in the bile ducts and then into the liver, and then oftentimes it spreads from there,” Fleischer said.

Bennett’s strength inspired Fleischer to do something for her and for others who are currently fighting the devastating disease. Working with The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, which has been around for 15 years, he decided to head out on a 15,000-mile road trip.

So far, Fleischer has trekked about 11,000 miles in 39 different states, including Ohio. He said he has made pit stops in cities/towns named “Hope” and has stopped in the greater Cincinnati area.

“[Next] I have basically the southwest out to California, so I’ve been in Indiana and Ohio several times now on this trip, but I’ll be going to Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah,” he said.

Fleischer is raising money for Cholangiocarcinoma research, but also wants to raise awareness throughout his journey.

He said one of the best parts thus far has been meeting inspiring people along the way.

“I underestimated the impact that this trip would have on current patients and caregivers that have lost somebody,” Fleischer said. “What they’ve told me oftentimes is that they realize that they’re not fighting alone now, and that’s been pretty powerful.”

Fleischer has a bit of traveling left but says they have already raised thousands of dollars in donations.

He has been blogging about his journey on the foundation’s website.

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