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Health: Man Survives Cancer and Heart Transplant, Then Bikes Coast to Coast

By Stephanie Stahl

AVALON, NJ (CBS) -- A Montgomery County cancer survivor rode his bike across the country to help others. Eyewitness News Health Reporter Stephanie Stahl has the final leg of the incredible journey.

Wait until you meet Derek Fitzgerald. He survived cancer and a heart transplant.

Wednesday night, he was in Avalon, just finishing his bike trip from California. But before, there was a pit stop in Philadelphia.

Derek got a hero's send-off from Penn Medicine on the last leg of his cross-country bike ride.

"It's been an amazing experience," said Derek.

The 42-year-old from Harleysville started in Santa Monica, California 44 days ago, with partners, cycling coast to coast to raise money and awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

"I am a survivor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma," Derek said. "I was diagnosed when I was thirty years old in 2003, and chemotherapy and my treatment for my cancer saved my life. But it also damaged my heart."

So after surviving cancer, Derek need a heart transplant. After seven years of waiting, his life was saved for a second time in 2011 with a new heart that he received at Penn Medicine.

"They saved my life," Derek said.

This was his final stop before heading to Avalon to complete the journey that took him through the Grand Canyon and the heartland, back home to his wife and baby

"We never thought we'd get to this point now," Derek said. "We have a beautiful little girl, and it's all due to the gifts we've been given."

Now, he's all about giving back, and not just with the bike ride. He's competing in marathons and an Iron Man in three weeks.

"Letting people know that even after a diagnosis like his, you do an Ironman," said Ellen Rubesin of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. "He's an amazing inspiration."

Derek said the hardest part of the cross-country bike ride was dealing with weather and rain, as well as 130 degree temperatures pedaling through the desert. It was a journey he hopes will help save lives with the $50,000 he's raised.

For more information, visit: www.lls.org/eastern-pennsylvania

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