Hiking the Manitou Incline 30 times in 30 days to raise Prostate Cancer Awareness
MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Prostate Cancer survivor and Colorado Springs resident Leo Nunes invited KRDO13 Reporter Bradley Davis to climb the Manitou Incline with him on the 18th day of his journey to summit the hike every day of September.
Nunes wears all blue and has dyed his hair the same since his initial diagnosis in 2022. He has since spearheaded an effort to make September the official Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in Colorado Springs, a proclamation Mayor Yemi Mobolade plans to sign on Sept. 24.
Sept. is also the national Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, but it is recognized far less than Breast Cancer Awareness Month, despite affecting close to as many men as Breast Cancer does women.
It is also harder for non-high-risk men in their 40s to get a Prostate exam covered by insurance than for women in the same demographic getting breast cancer exams. Nunes was not high-risk and was in his 40s when he was diagnosed.
The added stigma of the screening further disincentivizes men to get tested, despite the availability of blood test screening (in favor of rectal screening) since the 1980s.
Nunes said he hopes to hit his goal of $60,000 by the end of September, but if not, he will keep climbing every day until he does. You can donate to his cause at "Zero Prostate Cancer," the largest prostate cancer foundation.
