Jule Koch | Jun 22, 2016


The 2016 North & Central Frontenac Relay for Life took place on June 18 at the Parham fairgrounds. Ten teams, with 64 participants in all, walked many laps around the dusty track under a blistering sun, and although the extremely hot weather undoubtedly kept some from attending, spirits stayed high as the walkers focused on their goal – raising money to fight cancer.

The Relay organizing committee had six members this year. Vicki Babcock has been the chair of the Survivors’ committee for a few years, and this is her first year as Relay chair. She has a very personal reason for all her work with the Relay. Her eight-year-old daughter, Kylie, battled cancer as a toddler and has been cancer-free for seven years now, so the family has experienced first-hand the benefits of the funds raised through Relay. Tragically, the family has also lost four members to cancer in the last two years.

Doug Kane, unit manager at the Kingston Lennox and Addington Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), spoke at the opening ceremonies. He thanked the participants and especially the Survivors for attending, saying they are “walking, talking billboards” for what the funds raised through the Relay do. He said that the CCS is the only cancer charity that funds research into all the 200 plus types of cancer and that because of research, the survival rates for many cancers have improved dramatically. For example, the cure rate for breast cancer now hovers around 90% - a dramatic increase over the years. Relay dollars also help fund the CCS’s Wheels of Hope program, which provided 9,000 rides for cancer patients in the last 12 months.

Doug Kane encouraged attendees to call the CCS office if they or anyone they know is battling cancer and has questions, saying, “If we can’t help you, we’ll find someone who has the answers for you.”

He told the audience that the epicenter in Canada for clinical trials is actually based in Kingston, not in a larger city, and introduced its head, Dr. Chris O'Callaghan, who spoke about his group’s work. The core of funding for clinical trials comes from the CCS and they have resulted in many advances in treatments. O’Callaghan gave one local example: Gord Bowie of the rock band, the Tragically Hip, was recently diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. Fifteen years ago, the only treatment for this type of cancer was radiation, but now a new drug, which clinical trials have proven to be beneficial, has been added to treatment options.

Central Frontenac Councilor Brent Cameron told the story of how his father-in-law battled cancer for a year and a half. He emphasized to the audience that though his father-in-law “did not prevail, he did not lose the battle.” Cameron said, “You only lose when you give up, when you accept things as they are.”

Tracy Vallier, who later led zumba for relay participants, also spoke at the opening ceremonies. She told the story of her eight-year-old daughter, Alison, who was diagnosed with leukemia in January 2015. Alison was severely ill and fought for her life for several months, but is doing really well now. The survival rate today for the type of leukemia she has is 90%, another dramatic improvement thanks to research. Because of one of the drugs Alison is taking, Tracy regretfully had to tell her daughter that she could not do gymnastics, to which Alison replied, “When I’m done cancer, I’ll do gymnastics again.”

“She said ‘When’, not ‘If’,” Tracy emphasized in speaking of her daughter’s spirit.

After the speeches the relay started in earnest, with music and many fun activities to encourage the walkers, including water balloon tosses at committee members. On average, participants did anywhere from 30 to 50 laps each.

Among those walking was David Yerxa of Sharbot Lake. David has cerebral palsy and was an inspiration to his fellow participants as he completed 22 laps around the track. The sandy soil made one part of the track difficult for him to negotiate with his walker, but with his usual cheerful perseverance, he simply turned it around and went backwards on that stretch.

When all was wrapped up, this year’s relay raised $20,955 and organizers are already planning for next year.

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