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Richard Aubrey Byers Jr. born September 27, 1970 in Birmingham, Alabama has been in racing since he was 12 years old. His love for being on the track has continued throughout his life.
His dream to race came to a halt when he was suddenly diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma at the age of 33. The cancer was on his left vocal chord. Ricky went though the radiation treatments only to find out that the cancer was still active and he was told that it had progressed from stage 1 to stage 3 during the radiation treatments. Ricky was so dedicated to his job that he never missed one day at work during the 47 radiation treatments.
In Birmingham he was given only one choice. That choice was to have a total laryngectomy. Ricky being the optimistic person that he has always been looked and researched until he found a different opinion. That opinion was great and Ricky is now a 6 year cancer survivor.
Ricky has always been a fighter both off the track and on the track. He refused to give up on his health and his racing career.He is now 6 years cancer free and the one goal he hopes to accomplish is helping people that are going through the same thing he did… fighting for a cure for Cancer and raising money on the track to help find a cure for Cancer. In 2009 Racing For A Cure was founded and is now a non profit organization., Even though Ricky no longer has either one of his vocal chords his voice is really clear on one thing…fighting for a cure!
His love for racing started at a very young age.He started his racing career on tricycles, bicycles and then he moved on to Motor Cross. He then began racing Stock cars in the Pony Class. From there… Super Pony / Late Model and Sportsman Division with five track championships.
He then moved on to ARCA after his cancer was considered gone.His dream has always been to race NASCAR. Ricky has ran over 500 laps at both Talladega Super Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
He then made the choice to go to Daytona Super Speedway for his ARCA License in December of 2009. It was his first time ever being on the high banks of Daytona Super Speedway. Ricky was 8th fastest out of 63 drivers during testing on Saturday and was cleared by ARCA officials to race on any track in the series,which is a big accomplishment for any new driver in the series. Ricky was never involved in the draft over the weekend and left Daytona 19th overall on Sunday.
Ricky went to race at Daytona in February of 2011 in a rented race car. After many problems with the car and no practice before qualifying, He ranked 32nd and was knocked out of the race by provisional’s. He has tried to find sponsorship with a few marketing agents without any luck Ricky has decided to join Carson Racing and hopes to be seen in the very near future on the track for the 2011-2012 season.
Ricky is more than excited about joining Carson Racing. Ricky is very passionate about helping Cancer victims, families and Care Takers of Cancer patients but most of all He wants to raise money to help find a Cure for Cancer.
Anyone that knows Ricky knows that He wants more than anything to find a Cure for Cancer. Unfortunately people don’t think about Cancer until they have been diagnosed with it or a Family member is diagnosed. The type of cancer that Ricky had is very rarely Develops in people in their 30′s Cancer does don’t discriminate against age or race it doesn’t just strike people who smoke and drink. The statistics show that if a person lives long enough they will develop Cancer at least six times during their life span.
Ricky spends a lot of His time visiting Children and adults that are suffering with Cancer. Ricky is constantly reminded each and everyday when he looks in the mirror or attempts to speak to people how Cancer affects people.
Ricky doesn’t want anyone or anyone’s family to ever have to go through this. Ricky lives everyday of His life with people not wanting to be close to him because they think he has a cold or the flu. It’s was hard for him to live with the mean comments that he overheard people saying about his voice, but that no longer bothers him. He is happy to be called a Cancer Survivor. Now he wants to Race For A Cure!!!
On the web:
Ricky Byers on Facebook
Please Help Ricky with Cancer Research
6 Responses to "Home"
Ricky, I admire that you have such a big heart & passion to help others … I know it’ll take you far & never give up on your dreams!
Jammie, my only question is. What does it mean to give up? I don’t know the meaning of that. My mission and dream is to one day be able to say I helped find a Cure for Cancer . Thank you for the support. Ricky
I hope one day soon a cure is found for cancer. My mother-in-law passed away from this and she was one of the best people I have ever known in my life. She will always be missed. I wish you the best of luck in life. God Bless!
Ricky, I’m writing you about my great nephew, Joseph Scott. We’re doing a benefit for him at Sportsman Lake in Cullman, AL tomorrow, Oct 8. Here is his story: Joseph Scott – I NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE DONATE
Joseph is a handsome young man that just turned four years old. He is an active boy with boundless energy. On July 12th of this year Joseph was diagnosed with a grade four, glioblastoma (GBM) brain stem cancer. Since that day, we have been through four surgeries, a spinal tap, 11 hospitals and a bout of proton radiation in Jacksonville, FL. Over the initial 60 days we went through four states. On September 7th we received the message from the doctors that Joseph couldn’t be helped and should go home and prepare to pass into Heaven.
We didn’t accept that diagnosis. We felt very compelled to pursue an experimental treatment in Houston, TX at the Burzynski Clinic. Upon review and initial examination, the doctors are very optimistic that they can help him! We are more encouraged than we have been since the beginning of this journey. The cure rate in this clinical trial is exponentially higher than anything we heard on this journey so far. Treatment is initiating now; however, the treatment is not covered by insurance. Will you invest in Joseph, his care, and our family?
Ricky, a friend gave us your website as asked that we contact you. Joseph is such a sweetheart and gives God the glory for “healing my head and healing my walking”. Thank you and God bless you. Judy Thompson
Judy, I got your message and will be getting with you very soon. I have been out of town on a fundraiser. I am so sorry to hear the news, but we will get busy on trying to help anyway we can. Keep the faith we can beat this. Ricky
hi to all rickybyersracingforacure.comers this is my first post and thought i would say a big hello to yous –
thanks speak soon
gazza