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Relay for Life event raises thousands to fight cancer
The 2013 Elmore County Relay for Life was held at the Glenns Ferry School Sports Complex last weekend.
More than 270 individuals representing 25 teams registered for the annual event. Of those teams, six were from Glenns Ferry. Touched by the support they received from the school and community at last year's Relay, the ECRFL team decided that Glenns Ferry should be a repeat venue.
The event brings together volunteers, community members, sponsors, cancer survivors, and cancer patients' families and friends for a common goal -- to see cancer eradicated from the face of the earth. It is a goal they share with the American Cancer Society, which draws a portion of its financial support from Relays held across the nation.
This year's ECRFL raised over $20,000 to help the ACS continue its educational, and patient outreach programs, as well as research and advocacy efforts.
It is that research that lets Scott Hawkins call himself a cancer survivor. During last weekend's Relay, Hawkins spoke of his own personal fight against the disease. It is a battle that he has fought three times. "But this is not about me, this is about you," he said to the people who had gathered to participate in Relay. He said it is people like Relayers that provide the money for cancer research to continue.
While it is teams that take to the track for the 12-hour Relay it is contributions from sponsors, often from the business community, who support the teams with financial donations. WalMart was this year's largest contributor in Elmore County. It supported the Relay financially, and also donated gift cards, and provided its own team.
Glenns Ferry High School Football Coach Rob Spriggs knows all to well the fear that comes when one hears the words "you have cancer."
In August 2012, Rob was diagnosed with a type of brain tumor that embeds itself deep in the brain, making radiation treatments and chemotherapy ineffective. His only alternative was to undergo surgery, which he did that September.
Although the surgery was successful, not all of the tumor was removed.
His wife Christinia, students, and school staff helped Spriggs to deal with the disease. His first memory after coming out from under anesthesia was a photo posted on Facebook of Glenns Ferry school students and staff members all dressed in blue T-shirts.
Members of Spriggs' team continued that theme by wearing blue T-shirts during Relay. Blue, by the way, is his favorite color.
Rob surprised his doctors, students and staff when after only three weeks of recovery he returned to his teaching and coaching duties at Glenns Ferry High School.
Rob said it "is hard to describe in words" the feelings that arose when he witnessed all the support he received from the community. "It gave me kind of a purpose to get better and recover," he shared.
Christinia, who also teaches at Glenns Ferry High School, could only spare a week away from work to help Rob during his recovery. "It was the most difficult time in my life--hard to see him in pain and explain to our kids," she said.
Rob says that his is a slow-growing tumor that will, eventually, require a second surgery.
At 31-years of age, Kristina McSweeney, formerly of Glenns Ferry, has fought two battles against cancer. She is a one-and-a-half year survivor of breast cancer, and one-year survivor of brain cancer. At present, she is cancer-free and "loving every moment of it," she shared.
When first diagnosed with brain cancer, the doctors gave her only six months to live. "I walked away from it thinking how life is going to change," Kristina said. And it has changed. The brain cancer has affected her balance, and she is looking forward to a friend making her a cane to help stabilize her walking.
Kristina is not looking back at where she has been but forward to where she will go. Each year, she looks forward to "Relay season," she said.
She has participated in the last two ECRFL and will walk in the Boise event next month.
A.J. Jamison of Mountain Home has not fought his own battle against cancer, but as a two-year volunteer with ECRFL he understands the importance of the event.
As is the goal for all those who volunteer and participate in RFL, Jamison knows that there's "got to be a cure" for the disease. But it will take money to find that cure, he said.
His work with Relay for Life is not just his way of supporting and helping cancer survivors, he knows that the work RFL does may someday save his own life by helping to fund cancer research.
One Relay volunteer revealed that 1.6 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year. Of those, an estimated 580,000 will not survive the disease. "Cancer survivors and caregivers are the soul of Relay for Life, she said.