Fresno man battling rare form of cancer runs 37 miles on 37th birthday

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno man battling a rare form of cancer ran 37 miles Saturday for his 37th birthday as he hopes to raise money and awareness for people fighting rare cancers.

Joel Stetler was diagnosed with a rare form of stage four sarcoma in 2015.

His doctor initially gave him ways to be comfortable for whatever time he had left but five years, multiple surgeries and eight rounds of chemotherapy later, Stetler still has fight left.

He and a friend who recently beat cancer ran 37 miles to raise money for "Brave Like Gabe," a foundation that raises money for rare cancer research.

After finishing the run at the Art of Life Healing Garden in North Fresno, Stetler had a message for people facing the same odds as him.

"Fight it in any way you can," he said. "And if there's not a cure on the table, pursue healing because I don't have a cure yet but today was life-giving, today was healing for me, and that's out there for you to just take in any way you can."

If you're interested in helping them as they raise money for rare cancer research, just go to their website.