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Welcome to MEMC Crew (Make Every Moment Count)

We are a group of walkers and runners raising awareness of pancreatic cancer, inspiring hope for survivors, and raising money for pancreatic cancer (PC) research at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH). 

Most of us will be training for one of the events (2k, 5k, 10k, 1/2 marathon, marathon) at Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend (TORW) on May 24 and 25, 2025. 

Sindy's team, MEMC Crew, has participated in TORW ten times and raised $513,644.

We are supporting our captain, Sindy Hooper. Although no longer physically with us she is clearly the spirit of the team. 

Sindy was a very fit, active mother of two when she was diagnosed with PC (adenocarcinoma) Jan 2, 2013. She had no risk factors and no family history of cancer, to say this was a shock would be an understatement. She was extremely fortunate to be a candidate for the potentially curative Whipple surgery. She had the 10-hour surgery, and then 18 rounds of in hospital IV chemotherapy and 28 days radiation with oral chemo. She defied the odds and had 9 1/2 years of cancer free living before the first metastasis to her left lung in August 2021. She had surgery to remove that met, followed by 3 months of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, a year later September 2022, she had more mets; to her left lung pleura, spine and a rib. No longer a candidate for surgery and now in stage IV, she was back on chemotherapy, Sindy was told she (realistically) had 1 year to live. September 2023, she reached that one-year survival mark but the cancer in her pleura began to spread. A new chemotherapy was started, a PleurX catheter inserted into her left lung, and an updated prognosis of 6 months. As conventional chemotherapy was unlikely to have significant benefit the hunt was on for potential new treatments. In January 2024 Sindy was fortunate to get onto a USA clinical trial for a new drug targeting her KRAS G12D gene mutation. Although initially appearing to be of benefit, sadly in August 2024 there were new mets to her spine and an adrenal gland. Sindy came off the trial as it is no longer working and resumes conventional chemotherapy.  Sadly, she passed away on September 13, 2024.

But Sindy’s story is not about her treatments, or how long she lived with cancer, it’s about HOW she lived.

Sindy lived each day with gratitude and did her best to truly make every moment count. Pancreatic cancer statistics are truly horrible with an average survival of 6 months and a 5-year survival rate of only 10%.  Shocked by these statistics Sindy became active in raising awareness about PC and generating funding for cancer research ...... being part of a movement that will ultimately help find a cure or (at the very least) effective. 

Sindy used her love of running and triathlon as a platform to spread her message (she even did an Ironman while on chemotherapy). She encouraged and coached many newcomers to the running and triathlon world. She continued to compete in running and triathlon, including travelling to several world championships and running the Boston Marathon.

And always with a smile.

Her love for life, her enthusiasm, her willingness to share herself with the world, and her MEMC attitude brought hope to many, as well as raising much needed research funds.

We are asking for your help to take a moment and give from your heart to help find better treatments for pancreatic cancer (which would also extend to other cancers), to give people hope of surviving this devastating cancer. Every dollar that you give ensures that researchers at The Ottawa Hospital can continue working to improve outcomes for cancer patients like Sindy. 

If you'd like to join our team or donate, please find the links below (just off to the right). 

If you'd like to read more about Sindy's story or donate directly to her fundraising page, you can find that link off to the bottom right under "donate to a team member". 

Make every moment count!

Team MEMC Crew