KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Cancer patient's Iditarod dream comes to a crashing halt

Cancer patient's Iditarod dream comes to a crashing halt

by Megan Baldino
Wednesday, March 10, 2010

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Of all the mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Pat Moon has one of the most inspiring stories.

Moon, from Chicago, has put his cancer treatment on hold to fulfill his dream of running The Last Great Race.

Tuesday, Moon's dream came to a screeching halt.

"I took a pretty good wallop to the head. It kind of looks like I've got a concussion and a broken nose and possibly a couple of bone injuries," Moon said.

Moon doesn't remember the crash in the Dalzell Gorge that knocked him unconscious and knocked him out of the race.

"I was really proud of the way that I was running and the way the team was holding together and yeah, that's really the last thing I remember," he said Wednesday.

Saturday, just hours before the ceremonial start, Moon talked about how he got here.

"I was an IditaRider, the charity program and I just kind of decided at the time that it was something that I wanted to pursue," he said before the race.

Moon would have to overcome several obstacles, including ulcerative colitis and a recent diagnosis of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Instead of cancer treatment, Moon chose to train.

"We just kind of turned a blind eye to the idea," Moon said.

Moon invested $130,000 of his life savings and trained for two years in Michigan while living in a small hut with no running water, which made it all that much more difficult to accept his fate.

"I don't think it's really sunk in. I was watching one of the videos at the Millennium (Hotel, race headquarters) this afternoon and I finally had to walk away because I was starting to figure out that this had all come to a crashing halt, I guess. No pun intended," Moon said.

Moon says he hasn't decided what he'll do next, even if someone else already has.

"My wife is a saint because the first thing she said after she asked if I was alright was and if the dogs are alright was well, let's do it again next year," Moon said.

A musher behind Moon, Sam Deltour of Belgium, was able to help Moon, putting him on his sled until they ran into help.

Moon was then medevaced from the trail.

His dogs were expected in Anchorage Wednesday night.

Moon said the most important thing was that his dogs were OK and he was OK.

Contact Megan Baldino at mbaldino@ktuu.com and follow @KTUUSports on Twitter.