Tragedy strikes four 'pink pedalers' who visited Buffalo Grove

Tragedy has struck the group of four young Pennsylvania men who spent Memorial Day in Buffalo Grove, bicycling across the country to raise money to fight breast cancer.

One of them, John Anczarski, 19, from the Ashland, Pa., area, was struck by a car Monday in Laguna, N.M., and died Tuesday at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.

Barb Hasenberg, who hosted the college students and threw a party for them on their recent stopover in Buffalo Grove, said she received a phone call from Ty Bereskie, another of the bikers.

"Ty called me about 1:30 p.m.," said Hasenberg. "See how considerate they are. He didn't go into a lot of detail. They were at the airport waiting for John's parents to come in."

Reached in Albuquerque, Bereskie said he had witnessed the accident, and thought the driver of the car had been looking off to the right.

"He swerved and hit John. John hit the windshield and went up in the air. Then the car continued toward me and swerved back onto the road."

Chief Michelle Ray of the tribal police department in Laguna, N.M., said the accident has been referred to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and no information will be released until the investigation is completed.

The young men were riding on the white line on the side of the road, said Bereskie.

"We'd like everyone to know we don't want this charity trip to be in vain," he said. "We want to raise a lot of money for the cause.

"He's my cousin, but I think of him more like a brother," said Bereskie.

He had no idea whether the trip would continue, saying the three other riders are "just shaken up and heart broken." They all attended high school together in northeast Pennsylvania.

Hasenberg, who is being treated for Stage IV breast cancer, said she didn't really know the young men, but contacted them to offer hospitality when she heard of their plans to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

"I feel like he's one of my nephews or something," said Hasenberg. "For all the good they were trying to do in the world. And they were almost there. They were headed for Los Angeles and in another week I think they would have been there. Life's not fair."

Hasenberg's son, Eric, who is a sophomore at the University of Illinois, featured an interview with the bike riders on the campus radio station. And Barb Hasenberg had been trying to get the attention of TV people in Los Angeles for them.

The young men have a blog at thepinkpedal.wordpress.com, and friends are leaving good wishes on the Pink Pedal page on Facebook.