Couple Will Walk 80 Miles of Beaches Carrying Colon Cancer Awareness on Their Shoulders

Brian Crowe wanted to swim across Moriches and Shinnecock inlets on his way to Montauk, but the Coast Guard wouldn’t let him.

Two years removed from being diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer, Crowe is embarking this week on an 80-mile trek along the ocean beaches from Fire Island to Montauk Point, joined by his girlfriend, Leilani Garcia, to raise awareness of the increasing prevalence of the disease in relatively young people across the country — and the hurdles they face to even get effective screening covered by insurance.

The biggest hurdles in this week’s journey, however, will be the inlets.

With the Coast Guard’s no vote, Crowe and Garcia will enlist friends to give them a lift by car from the west side of the inlets to the east, so they can continue their Mission to Montauk, as they have dubbed it — which is also the name of a Give-A-Hand fundraiser they set up this week to help pay for their endeavor.

“I’m lucky to be alive,” Crowe, 44, said this week. “I’m two years away from Stage 4 and I’m in great health and I want to do anything I can to help more people my age understand the risks of this disease, to shed the stigma with getting a colonoscopy and to make insurance companies cover them.”

After Crowe experienced severe stomach pains in January 2023, an MRI revealed a 7-centimeter tumor in Crowe’s lower abdomen, which was quickly determined to be cancerous. After “intense” surgery, he says, the tumor was removed and doctors determined that chemotherapy was not needed. Crowe, a musician and music producer, changed his diet and dove into a healthier life with the help of Garcia, who works with many cancer patients on spiritual healing through meditation. He has now made it his mission to spread the gospel of the dangers of colorectal cancer among people under the age of 50 — the age at which most insurance companies will cover a colonoscopy for someone without family history of the disease.

“I got really, really, really lucky — no question,” he says of his current good health. “I eliminated stress, changed my diet, changed my whole life. And here I am, the healthiest I’ve ever been.”

Crowe and Garcia set out on Wednesday from Democrat Point on Fire Island. Crowe has already walked the entire route in sections to time how long it will take and says they will camp out on Fire Island on Wednesday night, then walk to Smith Point on Thursday.

Friday morning they will get dropped at Cupsogue Beach in Westhampton and will cover the Westhampton to Hampton Bays leg that day and then get dropped at Shinnecoock East County Park, where they plan to camp on Friday night.

Saturday they’ll march eastward to Hither Hills, camp there for the night and finish off the final 10 miles on Sunday morning, then join the revelry of the Montauk St. Patrick’s Day parade, where they will be manning a booth sharing Brian’s survival story and the realities of the colorectal cancer threat. The surgeon who removed Brian’s tumor will join them.

For Crowe, he hopes the Mission to Montauk will be an annual event — as much for himself as for the mission.

“It’s about the accomplishment,” he said.