Dan Irwin
Contributed photo
NEW CASTLE —
Three area doctors will be biking through southern France next week to help cancer victims.
Dr. Darrin Muscarella, a chiropractor with an office at 2305 Wilmington Road; his brother, Dr. Dean Muscarella, a Hermitage chiropractor; and Dr. George Garrow, an oncologist from New Wilmington, will leave tomorrow for Paris, along with another friend, Edwin Alicea.
“We’re going to catch the end of the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday,” Darrin Muscarella said. “Then we’ll fly Monday to the Pyrenee Mountains and we’ll be biking on all the same roads that these guys (Tour de France competitors) ride.”
The group will raise money for Livestrong, a series of cancer survivor programs and services that is part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Armstrong won the Tour de France seven years in a row after having survived testicular cancer.
The doctors ride under the name Team Figlio, which is the Italian word for “sons.”
The Muscarellas are sons of Stephen and Carolyn Muscarella. Stephen Muscarella died July 29, 2007, just three weeks after being diagnosed with gall bladder cancer. Carolyn Muscarella is a breast cancer survivor.
Garrow helped both Stephen and Carolyn in their battles against cancer.
According to Team Figlio’s website, www.abovethemountains.com, “It is the goal of these riders to help show people that they can do incredible things by raising Above The Mountains in their own lives to defeat cancer.”
The group will return to western Pennsylvania July 30.
“I have been cycling since 1995 and never thought I’d be biking the legendary roads of the Tour de France,” Darrin Muscarella said on his website. “I am thrilled to have this opportunity, especially in honor of my father and mother who I owe so much to.
“My father was a remarkable man who taught me so much about life. I am grateful. This is a wonderful tribute to so many people.”
Garrow added: “I am riding in memory of my patients and their families, who have included me in their own journeys and in so doing have taught me so very much about bravery.
“I am riding in support of sons and daughters everywhere who, like myself, wish to express appreciation to our parents for giving us life and love.”
