BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — In March of 2016 Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center dedicated the bridge at Canalside to cancer patients, calling it the "Bridge of Hope." In the first ceremony, cancer survivors hung bells on the bridge's wire fence.
"It was a symbol that I beat it," explained Jerry Kasprzak, of Cheektowaga. He battled issues with a cancerous tumor over the period of a decade.
Kasprzak put a bell on the bridge in 2017, among hundreds of others, but recently noticed only a handful of bells are left.
"It was a sentimental feeling, it's hard to say what it was, but it means something to you when you do it," said Kasprzak. "It's kind of a sad feeling."
Kasprzak reached out to 7 News about information on what happened to the bells.
7 News' Michael Schwartz contacted Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. A spokesperson said the bells were removed from the bridge in 2020, because the weather was impacting the condition of the bells.
Annie Deck-Miller of Roswell said patients were notified about the efforts to perserve the bells and the meaning behind them.
The hundreds of bells are in possession of Roswell, and the cancer center said it has plans to build a permanent installation in the near future that all of Western New York can add to. Deck-Miller said plans were delayed due to the pandemic, but there are "new creative and inspirational ideas, that will give permanent life to every thought behind each bell."
