Who is Zach DeRidder?

Zach’s Health
Zach was diagnosed with a rare and advanced form of liver cancer on January 6, 2006. Surgery is impossible for now and the tumor has grown to the size of a small football on his liver. Incredibly, Zach competes in athletic events while being on his sixth type of chemotherapy. His prognosis is unknown, but Zach lives strong each and every day.

Zach’s History
Zach, 23, is from the small town of Lyons, New York. Biking has been his passion since childhood and he has always dreamed of doing a cross country bike trip. His diagnosis came only a few weeks after returning home from serving a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. School, work, and relationships were quickly put on hold and Zach began the fight of his life.

For most of the time since his diagnosis, Zach has been very weak. For months, he lacked the energy to walk down the street and was taken care of by a visiting nurse. At his lowest point, Zach was in a coma for over a week – he’s obviously come a long way since then. With a phenomenal amount of faith, hope, and courage, Zach has moved along the road to recovery one step at a time.

Zach didn’t start racing so he could raise money for cancer; he just wanted to compete. On April 14, 2007, he did his first event since his diagnosis – a 5K race, in Geneva, NY. Eight weeks later, he had completed four more 5K’s, a duathlon, and a triathlon. When his friends, Michael and Tim, found out Zach was racing again, they were so thrilled and inspired they had to share his story. They set a goal for Zach to do a cross-country bike trip in spring, 2008 they named “ZHOPE Coast to Coast”. Then on June 1, 2007, they established the Zach DeRidder Foundation to fund Zach’s events, raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and share Zach’s story.

ZDF’s Mission
By courageously competing in athletic events all across the country, Zach hopes to inspire everyone to live their lives to the fullest and become united in the fight against cancer. Go ZHOPE! Live strong!

This page has the following sub pages.

• Zach’s Own Words