Relay For Life keeps inspiring everyone.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – The Relay For Life of Orange County had many surprises this year. Businesses, organizations and community members gathered together Saturday evening at the OCHS Hornet Sports Center to fight for a cure, remember loved ones and celebrate survivors.
The big surprise was that the event was not able to be held at the Orange County High School track, so everyone had to move indoors because of rain. But that wasn’t so bad after all. Because the place was much smaller than the outdoor track, an atmosphere full of shared purpose, excitement and electricity was created.
The theme of the event was “Paint Your World Purple,” which is the color related with cancer survivors. Besides activities and games, team members ran or walked around the field house corridor from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. However, all cancer survivors took the first lap around the field house, called the Survivors Lap, being cheered by the other participants and celebrating their victory.
The event also recognized caregivers who give support, love and time to their coworkers, neighbors, friends and family fighting cancer. According to Tracy Carter, the event leader, over 350 participants attended the event. Plus, $65,043,00 were raised close to the 2016 goal of $75,000. All the money will go to the American Cancer Society to help the research for treatment and medication.
Lynn Slaughter, the captain of the Linda’s Angels team, was the keynote speaker for the event. Her team’s name is Linda after her mother who passed away in 2014 after she had lung cancer. Lynn identified herself as a cancer survivor, a cancer patient, and a cancer caregiver.
She also had a double mastectomy in 2015. Lynn started to attend the Relay For Life events from 2009 with her team, Pink Warriors, and her mother. Back then, her mother was a breast cancer survivor, so she wanted to do something in return, to bring her contribution to the fight against cancer.
After finding out in 2010 that her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, and that she was given only 10 or 14 months at most, Lynn has become a caregiver and become a more important part of the Relay For Life events. After 14 months her mother was still fighting. She confessed that they enjoyed every minute together. However, in August 2014, her mother fell into a coma from which she never woke up and died on September 11th.
Lynn was also diagnosed in December with stage 2 breast cancer, but in less than a year after treatment and a double mastectomy, she won the fight against cancer. Hopefully, her story inspired many of the participants in the Relay For Life Orange County event.
Image Source:Flickr
The following two tabs change content below.