Relay
For Life
“Cancer
does not stop for nighttime”
RELAY FOR LIFE is an 18 hour
journey providing the light and dark of day and night to parallel the physical
effects, emotions and mental state of a cancer patient while undergoing
treatment.
RELAY FOR LIFE begins during the day,
when the sun is shining bright and the excitement and energy is flowing through
the community. The setting sun symbolizes
the time when a patient is diagnosed with cancer. The day is getting darker and
this represents the cancer patient’s state of mind as he or she feels that life
is coming to an end.
As the evening goes
on it gets colder and darker, just as the emotions of the cancer patient
does. Around 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
represents the time when the cancer patient starts treatment. They become exhausted, some sick, not wanting
to go on, possibly wanting to give up.
As a participant, you have been walking and feel much the same way. You are tired, want to sleep, maybe even want
to go home, but you cannot stop or give up.
Around 4:00 a.m. to
5:00 a.m. symbolizes the coming of the end of treatment for the cancer
patient. Once again they are tired, but
they know they will make it.
The sun rising
represents the end of treatment for the cancer patient.
They see the light
at the end of the tunnel and know that life will go on. The morning light brings on a new day full of
life and excitement for new beginnings for the cancer patient. As a participant, you will feel the
brightness of the morning and know that the end of the RELAY is close at
hand.
When you leave the RELAY,
think of the cancer patient leaving their last treatment. Just as you are exhausted and weak, so is
that person after treatment. But a new day has
arrived and we are continuing to take up the fight against cancer. REMEMBER:
There is no finish line until we find a cure.
