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Guest Column: Relay for Life: Funding cancer research and saving lives

By April Walker/Herald guest columnist

My sister, Denita Avis Jackson, is a cancer survivor.

It took years for her to be able to say those words. She is so used to taking care of other people, it would never occur to her to think about herself. Today, she is the team captain of the Tacoma Family Literacy’s Relay for Life team.

She became involved with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life program when her husband became stricken with colon cancer. She was his caregiver for two years until his death in June 2006. A few months later she learned she had breast cancer. She just shifted her focus a little from educating the whole family about colon cancer; making sure we were eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and getting enough exercise to making sure we all had our mammograms and were screened for breast cancer.

The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life program was started by a doctor in Tacoma. In May 1985, Dr. Gordy Klatt spent 24 hours running and walking the track at Baker Stadium at the University of Puget Sound to bring focus to cancer. Klatt, a colorectal surgeon, wanted to raise money for the American Cancer Society and to show support for all of his patients who had battled cancer. He ran for more than 83 miles. That first year, nearly 300 of Klatt’s friends, family, and patients watched him. Throughout the night, friends donated $25 to run or walk with Klatt for 30 minutes. He raised $27,000 to fund cancer research.

This year, the Tacoma Relay for Life Event is taking place at Mount Tahoma High School on Friday and Saturday, June 11 and 12 (Puyallup’s is June 25 and 26 and Sumner’s is July 30 and 31). My family looks forward to participating every year. We will arrive at the stadium Friday evening in time to watch my sister take the “Survivor’s Lap.”

Last year was the first time she was qualified to take this lap. As many of her family members, friends and the families she helps at her school program cheered her on, the tears started to flow. She looked around; everyone was crying. Not just the survivors on the track but their families and friends were shedding tears of joy that their spouse, sister, child, mother and other loved ones are still alive and fighting the fight for a cure. My sister said for the first time she realized she really is a survivor. She is still here.

My sister is a cancer survivor. But she said she continues to fight for cancer because research is working. The treatments she received were not even used as few as five years ago. Maybe if more people joined the fight we will find a cure for this insidious disease. We will fight with her. Join us!

Reach guest columnist April Walker at wapril1@yahoo.com.