Over 8,000 people gathered April 30 out on Old River Road for the annual Relay for Life. With over 6,000 participants and about 410 teams, the Relay was able to reach its goal by raising up to $2 million for cancer research, the total being $2,000,401.71, a world record.
This has provided a lot of hope, especially for those among the 2,000 that walked the survivor lap this year, which beats last year’s number of a little over 1,000.
Among those survivors was Susan Spears, who is a survivor of Breast Cancer. She talked about her struggle with cancer and how she sees it as more of a blessing.
“I believe that it happened for a reason, it gave me an option to talk a little bit more about something, now that I’ve really actually gone through it and see if I can help women and encourage them to go in,” said Spears.
Also among those survivors is married couple Carolyn and Philip McCray. Carolyn was diagnosed before her husband in 1995, and her husband in 2008. Carolyn has since started a support group for women with the help of their church called Women of Hope.
Carolyn commented on how her and her husband’s battle with cancer has encouraged them to help others through their cancer.
“We are taking our cancer and making something good out of it,” Carolyn said.
Carolyn also spoke of the impact that Relay has had on her life and others. “It means a lot, because you realize ‘oh my gosh look at all these people and they’re survivors,’ it really gives you a boost. I think Relay has changed a lot of people’s lives,” said Carolyn.
There were also many teams that participated this year. The goal was to get at least 400 teams to participate this year, and the total was about 410.
Among these teams was Second Star to the Right, a team dedicated to helping Cancer Research and Cancer research for Children, including places like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
One of the team members, Tamera Griffith, who was also a founder of Second Star to the Right, was inspired to create the group after the death of her granddaughter Kayla Blair, who passed away Jan. 10, 2009, from a very aggressive form of brain cancer.
Blair was also a patient of St. Jude in Memphis Tennessee, which is why a lot of their donations go toward St. Jude.
Griffith talked about how the death of her granddaughter has inspired her and Kayla’s family to keep fighting cancer.
“I didn’t want this to be my purpose, but it is. Kayla taught us a lot, we’re just going to continue our fight,” says Griffith.
Another team participating that day was McGraw’s Fighting Irish founded by Colleen McGraw, whose father passed away in 2009. Three of her dad’s siblings also passed away, all from lung cancer. This is her first year participating in Relay for Life, and she talked about how the support has helped her and her family.
“It’s inspirational to come out here because you see all the survivors, all the love and support from family and friends is just amazing,” McGraw says.
But the most touching stories of the Relay weren’t just those who had already beaten cancer, but the ones who were still battling it.
Among those people were Millie Medina, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 and went through various treatments and on Sept. 30, 2010, went through her last day of treatment and was announced cancer free.
Until Oct. 14, 2010 when she was diagnosed again, this time it had spread to her lymph nodes. Medina is currently in remission and is thankful for Relay and the money it raises to help find a cure.
Another person still battling cancer is Patsy Romero, who was diagnosed in November with breast cancer.
Romero has also been volunteering for Relay for Life for the past 19 years, and for the past six years, has been sitting on the board of directors for the California Division of American Cancer Society.
Being part of the California Division of American Cancer Society, Romero is trying to get a bill passed called the California Cancer Research Act that will be on the ballot during the next election.
It would add a dollar tax on every pack of cigarettes and 98 cents of that dollar would be spent on cancer research.
If passed, it will generate $600 million a year in the state of California alone for cancer research. Romero talked about how this year is different now that she is battling cancer herself. “When I had to take the survivor walk it was totally different, it changes your outlook on everything,” Romero says.
One of the youngest among those still battling cancer was Lerone Whitfield who turned 10 on Feb. 1 of this year.
He was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma just a few weeks shy of his 10th birthday. Whitfield just finished chemotherapy and is getting ready to start radiation.
This year’s Relay for Life was a success, with Bakersfield having the largest participation in the country.
It was even better for this years Relay, but the hard work isn’t over yet. There are still many people still fighting cancer today, and there will continue to be more Relays until a cure is found.