• Support
  • Advertise
  • Locations
  • Contact
Monday, February 6, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTERS
San Clemente Times
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye on SC
    • Soapbox
      • Submit a Letter
    • Getting Out
    • SC Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • SC Surf
    • Dana Point Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of SC
  • Explore SC
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classifieds
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Submit an Announcement
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
  • Special Publications
    • Money Matters
    • Best of San Clemente
    • A New You
    • Aging Well – For the Young at Heart
    • Crib to College
    • Festival of Whales Event Program
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Triton Football Preview
    • Go See Do
    • The Green Issue
  • SC Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye on SC
    • Soapbox
      • Submit a Letter
    • Getting Out
    • SC Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • SC Surf
    • Dana Point Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of SC
  • Explore SC
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classifieds
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Submit an Announcement
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
  • Special Publications
    • Money Matters
    • Best of San Clemente
    • A New You
    • Aging Well – For the Young at Heart
    • Crib to College
    • Festival of Whales Event Program
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Triton Football Preview
    • Go See Do
    • The Green Issue
  • SC Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
No Result
View All Result
San Clemente Times
No Result
View All Result

Fighting On: Relay for Life Celebrated in San Clemente, Raises Funds for Cancer Research

Staff by Staff
July 28, 2016 5:02AM
in EYE ON SC, News Headlines
Fighting On: Relay for Life Celebrated in San Clemente, Raises Funds for Cancer Research

Survivors of cancer take the first lap around Thalassa Stadium at San Clemente High School. Photo: Eric Heinz

0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Survivors of cancer take the first lap around Thalassa Stadium at San Clemente High School. Photo: Eric Heinz
Survivors of cancer take the first lap around Thalassa Stadium at San Clemente High School. Photo: Eric Heinz

By Eric Heinz

Cancer continues to claim millions of lives each year.

As scientists and society learn more and more about the disease, it still afflicts those closest to us. To help fund the efforts in finding a cure, Relay for Life is held annually at various locations around the world.

According to San Clemente Relay for Life organizers, more than 15 million people participate in events each year worldwide.

Teams of people and individuals walk and run laps in support of the cause, spend the night and do more laps in the morning to complete the 24-hour event.

At night, a slideshow honoring those who died as a result of cancer was shown along with a luminaria.

Brian Hannigan, a co-coordinator of the San Clemente Relay for Life, said the event has grown a lot since its beginning.

People made their way around the track of Thalassa Stadium at San Clemente High School on Saturday, July 24, in support of Relay for Life. Some participants camped out overnight on the field and finished a 24-hour relay.
People made their way around the track of Thalassa Stadium at San Clemente High School on Saturday, July 24, in support of Relay for Life. Some participants camped out overnight on the field and finished a 24-hour relay.

“Every year it gets bigger, stronger, and what impressed me is that the young kids who have grown up with the event are now starting to take leadership roles and become more involved in a bigger way,” he said. “Grant Meyer is one great example. He’s been involved since he was a little kid. This year he took the lead as team chair to get out all the information and help get them going. His leadership skills have really come together. He’s a young man now, and is dedicated to this cause.”

Hannigan said there are many other young people who are following the same lead.

“I think what’s most important is we have the funding and the research and it keeps helping, but what’s most important to me is preventing it to begin with, eating healthy, exercising and being of sound mind,” Hannigan said. “Past the point of that is going to American Cancer Society and help find new treatments and cures. I could just post on Facebook ‘I support you,’ or I could come out and really do something about it.”

Hannigan has had firsthand experience with losing loved ones to cancer.

“When I was 5 years old, my father passed away from cancer, but I never forgot him, and that’s a big part of Relay is to celebrate, remember and fight back,” he said. “My mom is a two-time cancer survivor. I have another aunt who is a survivor and I have an uncle who is a survivor. It’s been all around in the family and I have many friends who are going through the same thing.”

Connie Voris, the mother of Saylor Voris, a SCHS student who died from a rare form of cancer in 2015, spoke to audience members during the beginning of the event about Relay for Life and how it helped her and her family.

“We’ve met so many wonderful people and we tried to spread the word about cancer,” Voris said. “I asked Saylor, ‘Why do you like to do Relay for Life?’ And she said, ‘If people can fight (cancer) so hard to survive, we can stay up 24 hours.’”

Voris said she has heard many stories about families who lost loved ones to cancer, and she said she wondered how they moved forward with their life afterward.

“Now I know that these wonderful people, like the ones here today, were the same ones stepping up to help my family and Saylor’s battle with cancer,” she said. “Cancer touches most of all of us, and we have the responsibility to help others. Saylor, Sam and I had no idea those nine years of volunteering for Relay for Life would become our own personal battle.”

San Clemente has hosted Relay for Life at the high school for the last eight years but the event has taken place 14 years. This year, organizers said there were 38 teams that participated in the event to raise money for cancer research.

As of Wednesday, July 27, the event had raised more than $51,000 from San Clemente’s event, according to the Relay for Life website.

Dave Robinson has been involved in the event since its beginning through his church. He now helps organize the event each year.

Relay6
Dave Robinson, seen here with purple beads to represent support of cancer research, was diagnosed with prostate cancer years ago. Today, he said he is cancer-free and continues to help with San Clemente Relay for Life. Photo: Eric Heinz

“I think we’ve really built a core of people who are very interested in making sure it survives as an event,” Robinson said. “The first few years it was kind of hit-and-miss. But we’ve built a real strong team, and that’s continued to grow, especially in the last 10 years. It’s been very stable and we’ve had a lot of good community support.”

Robinson said the San Clemente Relay for Life has grown exponentially with fundraising. He said more newcomers join the event each year.

Robinson said he was diagnosed with prostate cancer years ago.

“I went through three surgeries, chemotherapy and hormone therapy, and about six years ago I had completely (beaten) cancer,” Robinson said. “The year before I was diagnosed, my wife walked in Relay for Life. So it was kind of serendipitous. We’ve been involved in creating a support group at the San Clemente Presbyterian Church.”

Getting a second opinion and finding a good doctor are keys to helping someone beat cancer, Robinson said.

“The first thing is you have to get a good medical oncologist; regardless of what cancer you have you may need chemotherapy or surgery, but you need to find a good one,” he said. “You need to make sure they’re a medical oncologist. Once you’ve done that you really just need to educate yourself, be willing to ask a million questions. The doctors are so busy treating the disease, they don’t have time to sit there and explain everything to you, but they will if you ask.”

Robinson said if test results come back benign, people should still keep an eye on the situation and get tested again. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the state of California, he said.

Lynn Wilton, who participated in this year’s San Clemente Relay, has had her own experiences with cancer as well as with family members suffering from the disease.

“My husband passed away with cancer, and in the years after that I developed colon cancer,” Wilton said.

Fortunately for Wilton, she didn’t need chemotherapy, but she said you have to get rest and maintain a positive attitude.

“Find the best doctor available, and just be positive, and a good result will come most of the time,” she said. “But I’m doing good. I’ve been in remission about 10 years and I’m having my 85th birthday this year, and I’ll see you next year.”

For more information, visit www.relayforlife.org or www.cancer.org for the American Cancer Society website.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Tags: American Cancer SocietyCancer ResearchFeaturedOncologyOrange CountyPurpleRelay for LifeSan ClementeSan Clemente High School
ShareTweetPin
Staff

Staff

Related Posts

Dana Wharf Whale Report: Gray Whale Cow-Calf Pair Sighting Continue to Increase

Dana Wharf Whale Report: Gray Whale Cow-Calf Pair Sighting Continue to Increase

February 3, 2023
San Juan Hills Girls Basketball Bounces Back, Outduels San Clemente for South Coast League Title

San Juan Hills Girls Basketball Bounces Back, Outduels San Clemente for South Coast League Title

February 3, 2023
Marblehead Students Learn About Watersheds with Artist Wyland

Marblehead Students Learn About Watersheds with Artist Wyland

February 3, 2023
San Clemente Parent Wants to Open New Charter School in South Orange County

OC Board of Education Approves New Capo Unified Charter School

February 3, 2023
Next Post

Guest Opinion: Miramar Theatre is Last Large Frontier of North Beach ‘Renaissance’

Discussion about this post

No Result
View All Result

SC Times Daily
Get important news and updates delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here.

Subscriptions
Don’t get the SC Times delivered to your home? Subscribe today.

Advertising
Get new customers and drive traffic to your business. Advertise with us.

Support Local Journalism
For less than the cost of a couple of cups of coffee a month, become an “Insider” member and continue to get “Local News You Can Use” from the only independently owned, dedicated local news organization in South Orange County.

Contribute today.

Picket Fence Media is a proud member of the SoCal Media Network.

  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Dana Point Times
  • The Capistrano Dispatch
  • Terms of Use
  • About Us

© 2023 Picket Fence Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye on SC
    • Soapbox
      • Submit a Letter
    • Getting Out
    • SC Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • SC Surf
    • Dana Point Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of SC
  • Explore SC
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classifieds
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Submit an Announcement
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
  • Special Publications
    • Money Matters
    • Best of San Clemente
    • A New You
    • Aging Well – For the Young at Heart
    • Crib to College
    • Festival of Whales Event Program
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Triton Football Preview
    • Go See Do
    • The Green Issue
  • SC Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who

© 2023 Picket Fence Media