CU Boulder professor completes amateur Tour de France to raise money for leukemia research

A University of Colorado Boulder professor and Erie resident completed the Tour de France route on Sunday ahead of the professional race to raise money for leukemia research and clinical trials.

Chris DeSouza and 18 other amateur riders took on the challenge in a fundraising event called the Tour 21 to raise $1 million pounds for Leukemia research. The Tour 21 is organized by Cure Leukaemia, a UK and global charity that raises money to fund clinical trials and connects patients to treatment.

The riders started the three-week challenge on June 24 and finished Sunday. DeSouza raised $34,650, and the group achieved its goal of raising $1 million pounds by the end of the race.

DeSouza said he felt the greatest sense of gratification when he was told that they had accomplished their goal.

“We were all thrilled to get to Paris, but, ultimately, the biggest thrill and the biggest satisfaction is knowing that we reached our goal and this important money will go to helping people and will, ultimately, go to saving lives,” DeSouza said. “And we’re all very proud of meeting that goal.”

DeSouza’s son, Noah, was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 3 years old. Treatment through clinical trials is what saved Noah’s life. DeSouza said he and his family were fortunate with Noah, but they know other families who weren’t as fortunate.

“The motivation for me was to raise money to help other families go through this and to help other families not suffer any type of tragic loss that we saw when Noah was sick,” DeSouza said.

Chris DeSouza’s wife, Sarah, said their son went through 3 1/2 years of treatment and it was the worst thing anyone could go through.

“It’s impacted us all, Chris is no different,” she said. “As a parent you would give your life for your child, and it was the hardest thing anyone could go through.”

Now, their son attends a university in Canada and studies exercise science. He’s healthy and finished a high level hockey career before attending college.

“We’re very thankful and grateful for the treatment he received and want to support other children and adults who have this disease and hopefully eradicate it,” Sarah DeSouza said.

She said she’s “incredibly proud” of her husband and what he accomplished.

“He’s all of our hero,” she said. “What he did was no small feat, and I was present for a couple of the stages of his journey and it was monumental the physical and emotional task of what he did.”

DeSouza said the most important thing for him is raising the funds to find the cure for leukemia and help the families who fight the disease.

“Everybody focuses on riding the stages of the Tour de France, and that in itself is a pretty cool thing,” DeSouza said. “It’s very, very difficult … but the focus needs to be on the reason why 18 normal people set out to try to do this and that was to raise needed funds to improve treatment and one day find a cure for leukemia.”