Friendly competition helps cancer patients

For the second year, teams competed by pulling a CL-415 water bomber at the Sudbury Airport to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society's Sudbury transportation program.

Six teams of 10 to 15 people took to the tarmac to pull the large aircraft 40 feet down the runway.

Each team had three chances to pull the plane as fast as possible.

Patricia Clizia, The Canadian Cancer Society Sudbury and District Unit's fundraising co-ordinator came up with the idea for the unusual event last year.

Larissa Lopez, who organized the event this year, said it did not take much convincing to get the Sudbury Airport and the Ministry of Natural resources, who lent the plane, on board with the idea.

In 2013 the Pull for Hope event raised $30,000 to help cancer patients in northeastern Ontario receive medical care.

In 2013, volunteers with the transportation program helped 367 cancer patients from remote regions of the northeast, ranging from Chapleau to Manitoulin Island, get to Health Sciences North for their appointments, chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

The program also subsidized flights to help children with cancer receive their treatment at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, in Ottawa, and the Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto.

The Canadian military also had a C-130 Hercules transportation aircraft on site, and open to visitors.