Ten years ago Helen Knutsen heard words no person wants to hear: "You have cancer."
Thanks to early detection, she survived.
Two-and-half years later, her husband heard the exact same words. His battle was a little more difficult, but he too is counted on the list of survivors.
Each year, to help remember their journey from sickness into health, Knutsen sets aside a dozen or so hours and ventures out to Fort William Historical Park for the annual Relay for Life fundraiser.
It’s a fun time, she said, and a chance to honour survivors and sadly, those who didn’t make it.
"There’s one thread that holds us together," Knutsen said, "and that’s the belief that we’ll be survivors. It’s a celebration of life. It’s an opportunity for those touched by cancer … to get together and enjoy (life)."
Through the cheers, applause and tears that surround the lighting of the luminaries, a way to remember survivors and victims, to the camaraderie experience overnight during walks around the track, Knutsen said the Relay for Life is a way to remember and something she looks forward to year after year.
"Each year the experience is still just as special to me," she said. "Relay gives hope to the recent survivors and tells the 10-year-survivor that cancer can be beaten."
Event organizer Elizabeth Stafford lost her mother June to the disease a couple of years ago. She said the relay is her way of helping to fight back against a disease that ripped her life apart.
"I can’t feel my mother’s touch anymore. I can’t look into her beautiful eyes. I can’t see her smile, except in my memories, memories that fade over time," said Stafford, upset her mother won’t be there to see her collect her Master’s degree later this year.
"Cancer took that away from the two of us. So at the relay I’ll be able to remember her and there will be support from others that are doing the same thing as me. Too many of our loved ones, they’ve lost their battle, too many in my lifetime."
Stafford, on the organizing committee for the first time, said they’re hoping about 85 teams sign up for the overnight event, scheduled for June 18. Last year they raised about $150,000 to fight cancer, she added.
In an average week about 3,300 Canadians are diagnosed with cancer, with about 40 per cent of all Canadians expected to develop the disease during the course of their lifetime. About 62 per cent survive today, compared to one-in-three four decades ago.
To register a team, phone 344-5433.
