We felt like it was the responsible thing to not hold the Polar Bear Dip this year with COVID-19 in the high numbers in Ohio, but Chad and a couple of his friends who have done it since they started in 2007 wanted to honor it, Shelia said. We felt like it was a safe thing to do, being outside and having only a couple people jumping in. Â
Shelia is a stage IIIc survivor of colorectal cancer, who has been in remission for more than 10 years.
When she was first diagnosed in 2007, Chad set out to raise awareness and money for cancer research by running into the freezing cold waters of Charles Mill Lake on New Years Day.Â