Peoria resident and former NFL athlete Michael Dritlein will be cycling in Coast 2 Coast 4 Cancer, a September cross-country ride to raise money for cancer research.

Dritlein is riding in honor of his mother, who lost her battle to Glioblastoma in December 2022, six months after her diagnosis.

Prior to this diagnosis, Dritlein’s mother overcame breast cancer. But soon after she fell while gardening, prompting a brain scan for precaution. That’s when her family learned she had Glioblastoma. Dritlein became her caregiver, sleeping at her bedside every night for the last three weeks of her life.

“My mother was a caregiver for my whole family her entire life, so when we got to the point when she was bedridden at home, it was very challenging for her emotionally,” Dritlein said. “Taking care of her during her final days was a beautiful moment for me and my sisters, as we could pay back and show her the love that she gave to us growing up. This was especially important as my father was struggling to understand what was happening since he suffers from dementia.”

Dritlein will join more than 126 fellow Bristol Myers Squibb employees as they celebrate a decade of Coast 2 Coast 4 Cancer. He will be riding up to 80 miles per day for three days contributing to the nearly 3,000 miles from Cannon Beach, Oregon to Long Branch, New Jersey. He will be cycling in the first segment from Cannon Beach to Bend, Oregon.

Dritlein is a physical therapist by education and a former NFL athlete who played for the Kansas City Chiefs during the 1996-1997 season and the New England Patriots in the 1997-1998 season before he was injured and left the NFL.

For more information, c2c4c.donordrive.com/.