‘Dying to Serve’: Terminally ill man stops in Anchorage on his volunteer tour
This is his 32nd stop in five months
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - In January of this year, Doug Ruch was given some rough news. Doctors told him he had less than two years to live.
“I had a choice, doing heavy treatment, chemo radiation surgery and that might extend my life six months or so, but it would be a miserable six months,” Ruch said.
“I’d be in bed. I’d be sick.”
Ruch’s journey began nearly four and a half years ago, when he was first diagnosed with prostate cancer. He went into remission twice with radiation therapy, but he said that doctors diagnosed a third round as terminal.
“[I] went home and mourned a little bit after the news and reflected on my life,” he recalled. “I was so busy working I did not spend a lot of time volunteering in my life. So that’s when I decided that ... that’s something I wanted to do.”
Ruch founded “Dying to Serve,” as part of a goal to volunteer in all 50 states before his life’s end. So far, he has made it to 29 states and has helped out 32 different organizations.
“It’s amazing ... on volunteer days I have a different level of energy,” Ruch explained.
While he’s decided to forego treatment for this round of cancer, he says that volunteering is medicine in its own right.
“I truly believe that the happy hormones, the endorphins I’m getting from doing this work are helping to keep my cancer at bay,” he said. “There’s nothing else to explain it other than my joy.”
Ruch will be spending the rest of the week in Anchorage. On Wednesday, he spent the day at the Food Bank of Alaska, helping sort and label cans of salmon.
As he worked, he shared stories with organizers and fellow volunteers, recounting his favorite stories from volunteering so far, including one about a woman and son he bought shoes for.
“The best part of the story is the next day, she messaged me on Instagram and told me that I turned a sad day into a happy day, and I get emotional every time I tell the story because ... the day that I gave her the $200 would have been her 14-year wedding anniversary and she lost her husband in 2020,” he said.
Along his journey, Ruch has amassed over 30,000 followers on Instagram, where he documents his service and raises money for charity.
To those following his tour, he only has one thing to say:
“It doesn’t take a lot of your time to make a difference for these wonderful organizations. You can volunteer for three to four hours a month for organizations like [Food Bank of Alaska] and make a difference.”
Ruch hopes to have visited all 50 states within the next three months. He plans to continue volunteering as long as his health remains stable.
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