My name is Jason Cronen, and I am living with cancer for the second time.

In June, I will set out to hike 540 kilometers across the Lycian Way in southern Türkiye on The Lycian Way Challenge , a 4–5 week thru-hike to raise funds for Movember, men’s health, and rural, low-cost cancer screening efforts.

My History with Cancer

I was first diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer in 2004 as a student at the College of Charleston. It became an 18-month battle including aggressive chemotherapy and 3 surgeries. Thanks to the outstanding doctors and nurses at Roper Hospital, MUSC, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, I survived.

Two decades passed. I was living in Asia, building a business from the ground up and a life with my girlfriend that I truly loved. I was moving forward until I fainted on a Bangkok sidewalk. When I came to in a hospital bed hours later, the news was waiting for me. The cancer had returned. In an instant, my world stopped.

This kind of experience changes you; it strips away the everyday bullshit and makes what matters impossible to ignore. It also reveals the cracks in the healthcare systems we rely on to stay alive.

The Geography of Survival

Geography should not determine survival. As an American with a “pre-existing condition,” the U.S. healthcare system was a wall of delays and insurance denials this time. Those delays cost me valuable time. I was forced to seek care abroad rather than at home surrounded by family and friends, in a hospital system I know.

While I am still in monthly treatment and certainly not out of the woods yet, I have a path forward that could give me a few more years.

43% of men in rural and low-income communities worldwide do not. In these areas, cancer screening is often too far away, too expensive, or simply non-existent. For the 1 in 9 men globally who will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, that lack of access turns a treatable condition into a tragedy.

Why This Hike Matters

Both times I was diagnosed, I felt fine. There were no dramatic warning signs. If I hadn't had access to immediate screening, I wouldn’t be here today to lace up my boots.

So, I’m hitting the trail to make sure early detection is available to more than just the lucky few.

We are raising funds to support low-cost screening initiatives for five rural communities in 2027, between the USA, Türkiye, and Asia. We are now building the partnerships with regional medical systems and NGOs to deliver these tests directly into the field.

The Lycian Way Challenge is about more than a hike; it’s about ensuring the next person facing this diagnosis has the tools to fight back. Thank you for standing with me.

Most gratefully yours,

Jason M. Cronen

P.S. These two photos were taken just before my diagnosis in Charleston back in April 2004, and later at Phish in Coventry in August 2004, right in the middle of chemo. Even then, I was determined to keep living fully in the face of really tough times. That spirit has never left me.