TEAM DEL
Why the name Del ?
Delyse Elizabeth van Breda , known to her friends as “ Del ” was born on the 4th of April 1982 . She passed away on the 30th of August 2020 . She was 38 years old . She was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in March 2013 . In 2008 , prior to her diagnosis , we met and engaged with the Cows . It is a cause that we have always embraced with all of our energy . She was the first lady to ride an ice cream bicycle the full 947 distance ( 2010 ), she completed three half iron man races ( 2009 , 2010 , 2017 ) and several Olympic distance races . In 2017 she double lapped 947 with the Apocalypse Cows while on oral chemotherapy . She seconded several triathletes at IronMan races in South Africa , Brazil , France and Canada . She seconded our Double Century team several times . She volunteered at the Cape Epic in 2018 .
She never stopped fighting and completed five rounds of chemotherapy , two drug trials , four surgeries , three courses of radiation that included two stereotactic sessions on her brain , where she had to lay perfectly still for nine hours , to obliviate eleven and then thirty-one metastatic lesions . For the last two years of her life she had a surgical port to receive chemo and plurex drain to relieve fluid on her lungs . It didn ’ t stop her from teaching Caleb to swim . She is my hero . She is the strongest person that I have ever met . Most people don ’ t experience such intense love . Others don ’ t believe in soul mates . I am thankful that I have both . I love her with as much intensity today as I did the day that we met , the day we were married and the day she delivered our son Caleb . It is a singular honour to ride with her name on our suits . She will be riding with us on 30 October .
Why did you choose Pink ?
Del was asked to be an ambassador for breast cancer awareness ( Pink ) and declined . She would often say that if it was her destiny to suffer chemo so that a child didn ’ t have to then it was worth it . Her fight was always for the COWS and CHOC . The opportunity to support and raise funds for the COWS in pink suits is therefore fitting .
32 Cow and Belle | October 2021