By Mary O’KEEFE

Relay for Life of the Foothills took place last weekend, but the fundraising continues. The 24-hour event began on Saturday at 9 a.m. and went through Sunday 9 a.m.

More than a dozen teams took part in the annual Relay, setting up booths around the grassy field at Clark Magnet High School. There was a lot for kids to do during those 24 hours, including crawling into giant human spheres then running around the track, attempting to dunk former CV Chamber president Kaipo Chock in a dunk tank and playing lots of games.

A survivor booth was dedicated for those battling cancer. There they could sit, rest and talk to others who understand what they are going through.

“I am so grateful for everyone who came out for this year’s Relay for Life of the Foothills. We were able to raise over $30,000 for the American Cancer Society and we heard from survivors from all across our community base,” said Molly Shelton, chair of Relay for Life of the Foothills.

The most poignant part of the event was Saturday night’s luminaria lighting ceremony. Months prior to the event, and on event day, people either created for themselves or had Girl Scout Troop 1591 design bags with the names of loved ones who had been touched by cancer. Just before 9 p.m. on Saturday the scouts lined the track with the bags, which had been filled with sand and a candle, which they then lit.

Each year the guest speaker for the luminaria ceremony is a local person who shares his personal cancer story. This year that story came from Eric Hamilton, who faced pancreatic cancer with optimism, intellect and the support from family and friends.

It was in May 2018 when he felt “something” in his stomach. It began to hurt. Hamilton was in good shape and followed a healthy diet and he knew something was wrong. Eventually he was told he had pancreatic cancer. After he had surgery he was given the news the cancer had spread to his liver. He was told he would probably not make it through the end of December. But then …

“Fast forward to [September] – remember December is supposed to be the bad month – City of Hope did a CT scan on Sept. 11. There were no new lesions on [my liver] but some were still there. Fast forward to November; another CT scan and no new lesions and the ones that were there were shrinking. Fast forward to January – mind you we skipped over December ¬– more good news: no more blood clots, pancreas looks normal and all the little lesions on the liver? ‘We can’t find them at all,’” Hamilton recalled what doctors told him.

He had a recent CT scan and the results were even better. When his wife asked his doctor if he didn’t know that her husband had been diagnosed, would he think he had cancer.

“The doctor said, ‘No, it looks clean’,” Hamilton said.

He told those who were dealing with cancer to stay strong. “Keep up the positive spirit and be grateful for each day we have,” he said.

  Dick CLUBB, Mary Okeefe