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COLUMBIA (WACH) – A New Mexico man, makes a stop in the Midlands, during his journey to help foot the bill for cancer research.

BJ Timoner is walking across the country to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer and money to help find a cure. His journey began in San Diego on Christmas day last year. Timoner plans to end the walk on December 3, 2011 in Myrtle Beach.
 
Pancreatic cancer is the nation's fourth leading cancer killer. Timoner lost his dad to the disease which is what inspired him to take action.

“Various parts of the trip have been difficult I faced temperatures well below zero in New Mexico and Arizona and I faced temperatures way over one hundred when I was in Texas. Everyday there’s a new challenge, but it’s been incredible people have been very good to me across the entire nation and this is my ninth state,” said Timoner.

Timoner's goal is raise $100,000 thousand for pancreatic research. So far, the donation total is $23,000. If you’d like to help BJ Timoner reach is $100,000 goal, click here.

UPDATE:

WACH Fox’s Tyler Ryan sat down with Timoner on Good Day Columbia to talk about the motivation behind the walk, and challenges he has face in the last 11 months since starting his journey.

Timoner’s father passed away when he was 5 years old from pancreatic cancer, and on the day that Timoner became a day older than his father, he began his journey to raise money for the deadly disease that kills thousands each year.  He said that he never planned to make it past that mark in life

Along his journey, which has been over 2 thousand miles to date, Timoner has had his own health issues, including suffering a heart attack while on his journey in Texas.  After taking several doctor ordered months off from his journey, he picked up where he left off, and looks to complete his cross country trek in Myrtle Beach a year after he started it.

Timoner asks that supporters log onto his website, www.BJWalksAmerica.com, and make a donation to The Lustgarten Foundation, as he is attempting to raise $100,000.  Timoner points out that he is not taking any money from the donations personally, or for his own journey.