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A Rumford woman with cancer has organized a sunset hike up Rumford’s Whitecap Mountain this Saturday, Oct. 18, as a way to raise money to help pay for treatments.

Corey Coolidge-Chase with her fiancé, Connor Blais, at a Strike Out Cancer Event last June in Rumford during a Pine Tree League baseball contest hosted by the Rumford Expos, where she threw out the first pitch. The event raised over $1,200 with food trucks, personal and anonymous companies’ donations. Other teams from across the league raised another $1,400. (Courtesy of Lou Marin)

The hike with Corey Coolidge-Chase begins at 3 p.m. starting at the trail head gate area on East Andover road, with parking at the roadside parking areas.

Pledges will be set up per mile. So if you hike 5 miles, at a pledge rate of $10 per mile, in the end $50 would be donated. Organizers ask participants to keep pledges above $5.

In the fall of 2024, Coolidge-Chase was diagnosed with Stage 2B cervical cancer, six weeks before her 30th birthday. She went through her first round of treatment, which consisted of chemotherapy and radiation. A couple months passed, and she went in for a scan.

“Treatment worked but the cancer metastasized to my lymphatic system,” she said. “Round two of treatment was set in place. Chemotherapy and immunotherapy.”

The treatment worked, Coolidge-Chase said, at first.

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“I went into remission for about a month and then I was told after my most recent scan that it’s back and that all we can really do now is to try to maintain everything,” she said. “Another round of chemotherapy with no end date in sight.”

Proceeds from the fundraiser hike will go toward Coolidge-Chase’s medical bills while she goes through her third round of cancer treatments.

Coolidge-Chase said she is thankful for the community and the surrounding areas for their generosity and helping her through this tough time.

“It’s an incredible experience to witness the amount of friends, family and complete strangers that have come together, willing to help in any way possible,” Coolidge-Chase said.

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