As of 2020, it is estimated that:

• 26,900 Canadians will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer. This represents 12% of all new cancer cases in 2020.

• 9,700 Canadians will die from colorectal cancer. This represents 12% of all cancer deaths in 2020.

• 1 in 14 Canadian men will develop colorectal cancer during their lifetime and 1 in 32 will die from it.

• 1 in 18 Canadian women will develop colorectal cancer during their lifetime and 1 in 37 will die from it.

• On average, 73 Canadians will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer every single day.

At only 34 years old, this was a shock to Geoff, as 93% of cases occur in adults aged 50+. Geoff was rushed into emergency surgery to have the tumour and part of his large bowl removed. A few weeks later, he started his first rounds of chemo. Two additional bowel resections, a liver resection, learning to live with an ileostomy and a nephrostomy, countless rounds of chemotherapy and dozens of rounds of radiation treatments later, Geoff’s cancer has progressed to stage IV and is considered aggressive and terminal. 

Geoff also loves hot sauce! Anything spicy really, but especially hot sauce. He loves eating it, he loves making it. He even tried to grow a pepper once (it didn’t go well). And the jokes basically write themselves when you think about a dude obsessed with hot sauce who literally had his butthole surgically removed. When you look at it that way, this hot sauce eating fundraiser was inevitable. 

The Ring of Fire Fundraiser is being organized by Geoff’s wife, Kassia Hollis-Haynes, to honour her hot-sauce-lovin’ husband, and to raise funds for colorectal research so all those facing bowel cancer have the best chance of survival.

Learn more about colorectal cancer from The Canadian Cancer Society and The Alberta Cancer Foundation.