‘The longest journey of our lives’: Worcester native hikes 155 miles to honor late wife

Forty-five years ago, Worcester native Tim Duffy met his future wife, Kate. On a whim, he and his friends decided to take a trip up to Seagull Beach in Cape Cod from Worcester for the Fourth of July weekend.

Due to the holiday weekend, it was not easy finding a place to stay at the Cape. A friend of his knew a group of girls who had a place, but Tim felt apprehensive staying a couple of nights with strangers. He went anyway.

At that house, Tim met his future wife, Kate. The two got married in 1982 and had their first daughter, Courtney, in 1990. Ten years later, they adopted a son, Jared.

“My mom never missed a recital, she was never late for pickup. She was wholeheartedly supportive and fully present,” Courtney said. “My brother Jared and I had the gift of extremely warm and enriching childhoods. She was just the kind of mother every child deserves.”

Kate got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October of last year. She ended up dying about two weeks out from Christmas. 

This year, Tim, who now lives in Maine, is honoring the memory of his late wife and their 41st wedding anniversary by taking a 155-mile hike. The hike starts from where he and Kate first met to where she passed and will end in Ogunquit, Maine.

Last August, Tim and Kate were on a trip celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. During the drive, Kate experienced some back pain and was not able to stand. Tim and Kate went to the hospital. Doctors first told them surgery needed to happen, but after a biopsy and a CAT scan the next day, the Duffys were notified that it was stage four pancreatic cancer.

“It’s just devastating news,” Tim said. “It stops you in your tracks. Your life as you know it is really changed forever.”

Tim said his wife handled it “courageously.”

Charity fundraiser

Kate was an “avid walker” and “loved the beach” so a hike like this made sense to Tim. While the hike has personal meaning to Tim, he is also using it as an opportunity to raise awareness for the disease and raise funds for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, a charity dedicated to raising money for pancreatic cancer research.

Pancreatic cancer is a difficult disease to catch because early-stage tumors do not show up on imaging tests. This means people don’t receive a diagnosis until the cancer has spread and the outcome is usually fatal.

“The disease leads to a feeling of helplessness,” Tim said. “So I wanted to do something that would contribute to helping people with pancreatic cancer. The idea of the beach came to me, as that’s been our life’s journey.”

Courtney supports her dad in this journey.

“I’m not sure he realizes how special he is for doing this,” she said. “But he knows how special (Kate) was and that’s enough for him.”

This past year, the Duffys experienced an exorbitant amount of grief. Since the cancer diagnosis and Kate's death came so quick, it was hard to conceptualize.

“It was only six weeks, but you can imagine it felt like six years,” Courtney said. “But it also blew by so quickly. In those six weeks, (my brother, father and I) would have conversations with her about still being there for each other after she passed.”

To prepare, Tim has walked miles and miles every day. Along with that, he said he’s received much support from loved ones and others in his life. So far, they have raised nearly $27,000 for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

Tim said Kate will be on his mind during the hike.

“I’ll be thinking a lot about our journey, it was the longest journey of our whole lives,” Tim said. “There’ll be some emotional points like passing places we’ve been together and places we spent a lot of time dreaming about what we want to do together.”

The hike takes two weeks to complete. Tim plans to start at Seagull Beach on Monday and plans to return to Ogunquit Sept. 3.

“This is an important mission for me, if you will. It’s to raise awareness to help (pancreatic cancer) patients have some hope,” Tim said. “My dream would be that we create diagnostic tools that diagnose people earlier, so they can be treated effectively.”

Kate died just 45 days after her diagnosis. Courtney said Tim’s hike has been an effective way of processing their grief.

“In (Tim’s) case, I can’t think of a better way to patch a broken heart,” Courtney said. “And every dollar, every patient, every person that is changed in some way by this is the best way to honor my mom’s legacy.”

For more information or to contribute to Kate's Journey, click here.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: man hikes hundreds of miles raising awareness for pancreatic cancer