By Michael V. Hannigan
Taking a walk is good for your health — taking a 12-hour walk can be good for everyone’s health.
The annual Henderson County Relay for Life event took place, May 9, Saturday at the Fairpark Complex in Athens.
According to the website, Relay for Life “is the world’s largest and most impactful fundraising event to end cancer. It unites communities across the globe to celebrate people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and take action to finish the fight once and for all.”
Locally 16 teams walked for 12 hours and raised nearly $33,000 — and that is not the final total.
SURVIVORS LAP
The Henderson County event started with one its most courageous sights, the Survivors Lap.
The Survivors Lap is a celebration of the walker’s victory over cancer. It was followed by special laps for caregivers and police and firefighters.
NO FEAR
Cancer isn’t so scary after the battlefields of Europe, according to World War II veteran George Heitman.
Mr. Heitman spent three years fighting in the European Theater as a young man. “I was barely 16. My oldest brother signed me up,” he said.
So when he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer seven years ago, he took the medication he was prescribed and kept living his life.
“You get enough of the war, you don’t think about cancer,” he said.
Saturday was Mr. Heitman’s third Relay for Life. He walks with his daughter, who is also a cancer survivor, and with the Kickin’ Cancer Country Style team.
WHY WALK
Relay for Life is a fundraiser.
The American Cancer Society says: “With your help, we aren’t just fighting one type of cancer we’re fighting for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. Each person who shares the Relay For Life experience can take pride in knowing that they are working to create a world where this disease will no longer threaten our loved ones or rob anyone of another birthday.”
The head of the Henderson County Relay for Life committee, Dustin Mettetal, summed up best.
“Cancer is without discrimination,” he said. “Rich or poor, young or old. It has no mercy. This is our way to fight back.”
A SURVIVOR’S STORY
TEAMS
The teams walking at the 2015 Relay for Life included:
- Bankin’ on a Cure
- Cancer Crushers
- Prosperity Bank Buck-A-Roo$
- CNB Hope Treasurers
- Team Cure
- B.E.A.R.S.
- Murchison ISD
- Seeds of Hope
- ETMC Cancer Crusaders
- Family Warriors
- Jazzercise Athens
- Rib Family and Friends
- Walmart Cancer Kickers (Kickin’ Cancer Country Style)
- Cancer’s Kryptonite
- Family Fitness Gun Barrel City
- Kemp Team Buzz
It is the greatest event ever. We do it every year it is in Canton Texas.
It was an honor to lead the team Cancer’s Kryptonite during our first year walking. We raised close to $200 in honor of Jonathan Stovall. The event has grown and I cannot wait for 2016!