SURVIVORS MARCH — Taking the first lap in the Brooke-Hancock American Cancer Society Relay for Life Saturday evening at Wellsburg’s Central Park were 17 cancer survivors, including Yvonne Tuchalski, who discussed her experience battling breast cancer, which she remembers by wearing a pink tutu each year. -- Warren Scott

WELLSBURG — While welcoming those attending the Brooke-Hancock American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Tammy Hornick said cancer is the second most common cause of death in the U.S. and a formidable enemy.

“But we have an advantage over cancer through the generosity of people like you,” said Hornick, who has chaired the local event for several years.

She noted since the first Relay for Life was organized 40 years ago in Tacoma, Wash. by Dr. Gordon Klatt, a colorectal surgeon who walked about 83 miles and raised $27,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Since then, volunteers in about 3,000 communities in more than 35 countries have organized Relays for Life to help the organization provide cancer education and services to cancer patients and support cancer research.

Officials with the American Cancer Society have reported money raised by the events has included $792,000 for studies involving prostate cancer at the University of Minnesota, $792,000 for lung cancer research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and $778,000 for colorectal cancer research at the University of Utah.

Hornick said the event also serves another important function through the participation of cancer survivors, who are invited to walk the first lap and in doing so, offer hope to others who are still battling the disease.

Among the cancer survivors participating in the lap was Val Giglio of Wellsburg, a 27-year survivor of prostate cancer.

He said he was fortunate that treatment for him wasn’t as extensive as for some.

But Giglio said he doesn’t take his health for granted, returning each year for a checkup as well as seeing a heart specialist for another health issue.

“I’m pretty good at keeping up with everything you’re supposed to keep up with,” he said.

As guest speaker for this year’s event, Yvonne Tuchalski of Weirton reflected on the many affected by the disease, in its various forms, and shared her own battle with it.

She noted the American Cancer Society has reported one in three Americans will be diagnosed with cancer, but she added through the efforts of the organization and others, there are 18 million cancer survivors in the U.S.

An Army veteran, Tuchalski said she was living in New Jersey in 2005 when she learned her mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

The Internet wasn’t as readily available at that time, she said, but fortunately, she was able to get information from the local branch of the American Cancer Society.

Told she may live for only three months, her mother died after two, said Tuchalski.

She noted her father had successfully battled prostate cancer.

Tuchalski said in 1981, doctors had found a pre-cancerous tumor in her cervix. It required her to undergo yearly pap smears, but she didn’t consider herself a cancer patient at the time.

In 2022, she was undergoing her yearly mammogram, a bit later than usual, when a spot was found in one of her breasts.

An ultrasound and a biopsy confirmed she had breast cancer.

She underwent surgery and while still undergoing treatment, participated in the Brooke-Hancock Relay for Life in 2022.

During her battle with cancer, she encountered members of four area churches who prayed for her.

After being declared cancer-free, Tuchalski returned to the churches to express thanks.

“That Easter, I went to every one of the churches and told them because you prayed for me, I’m alive,” she said.

Tuchalski enjoys creating crosses from the palms used by churches in Palm Sunday services and delivered hundreds of the crosses to the churches and hospitals where she was treated.

Now she participates in a support group for cancer patients at Trinity Health System’s Teramana Cancer Center and mentors newly diagnosed cancer patients, including a cousin who recently learned she has breast cancer.

Tuchalski noted the Relay for Life’s motto in recent years has been “Celebrate. Remember. Fight back.”

It alludes to the cancer survivors it recognizes, those who have lost their lives to the disease and who are remembered through the lighting of luminaria along particpants’ walking paths, and the ongoing battle against cancer through early detection, treatment and the search for a cure.

It’s an approach Tuchalski has embraced for her life.

“Cancer survivors deserve to thrive after cancer, not just survive it,” she said.

She said survival is something to celebrate, but the survivors should find reasons to carry on after that.

For those still fighting the battle, Tuchalski shared advice she found on a greeting card, “Cancer is a bully. It doesn’t play fair, but it can’t dim your spirits and it can’t silence prayers.”