SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — On a warm Saturday morning, as the sun rose over La Jolla Shores, surfers waxed their boards and hit the waves for UCSD’s 31st annual Surfing for a Cure Luau & Legends Invitational.
Legendary surfers, cancer survivors, scientists, and more participated in the event, all to help raise money for cancer research.
"In the time that this event’s been going, 31 years, we’ve made so much progress," surfer and pancreatic cancer survivor Tyler Callaway said. "If you sit back and look at it—we’re alive today in a lot of cases because of the treatment we received. That’s a gift you can’t put a price on. You can’t even begin to say a proper thank you."
Callaway's team consists of six surfers, all of whom are cancer survivors. The majority were treated at UCSD Health.
Co-founder Sam Armstrong started the event when he worked at UCSD in 1994. Rather than hosting a suit-and-tie fundraiser, he decided to create something he enjoyed. Like many San Diegans, and in the spirit of Southern California, he chose to host a surfing competition.
"One of the coolest things is that so many of the people who worked on the event the very first year are still here today, 31 years later," Armstrong said. "We've been part of this team for 31 years, and you develop friendships that go beyond normal things."
Since the invitational’s inaugural year, it has raised over $11 million. The money has played a vital role in the research at the Moores Cancer Center, helping in all aspects of cancer research.
"It’s funding the full gamut," said UCSD associate professor in radiation medicine Jesse Nodora. "Everything from scientists working in the lab, on the bench side, clinician scientists working with new therapies and drugs, and the population scientists like myself."
