Huntley Park District Hosts Third Annual Relay For Life Event

When the sun goes down in the west and the brightness fades away, cancer strikes a family, Michelle Rankin said.

It happened to Rankin's family.

Rankin, co-chairman for this year’s Relay for Life, is the daughter of a two-time survivor of breast cancer.

When Rankin was just 14-years-old, her mother was diagnosed with the monster. Rankin and her siblings stood by their mother’s side through her struggle, even when the doctors told her the light was dwindling: she had just one month to live. Her mother not only survived that battle, she became a two-time survivor.

“I wanted to be there with her as much as I could,” Rankin said. “It made me want to be there for anybody I could help.”

As co-chair of the annual Relay for Life of Northern Fox Valley, she has been there to help others. Relay for Life held its annual walk for cancer reasearch at Deicke Park Friday with a record-breaking 38 survivors walking, more than triple the survivors in 2009.

“The whole evening is about celebrating, remembering, and fighting back,” Rankin said.

Survivors, caregivers walk

Despite the doctor’s one-month prediction, Rankin’s mother remained in remission for the next four years, until she was once again diagnosed with breast cancer on the other side.  Rankin was attending Elgin Community College at the time, and her mother had just found out at an annual checkup.

Credit it to faith, credit it to hope, Rankin’s mother was lucky to know that her cancer had been found early on, before the disease had a chance to bring her down.

“My mom had given so much of herself, so I had to pay it forward,” said Rankin. Michelle is now the mother of three daughters, and says the experience made her a more nurturing person.

“It’s my hope that my girls don’t have to go through what my mom went through,” she said.

The hope and strength she built as the caregiver of her mother inspired Rankin to become involved in Relay for Life.

She worked closely with co-chairman Tiffany Scerbicke and a planning committee of survivors, caregivers, and physicians, Michelle Rankin made this event possible.

The planning committee ensured Huntley’s Relay for Life is all-inclusive—an opportunity for people of any age, of any donation amount, to walk in the fight against cancer.

“Cancer doesn’t discriminate and neither do we,” said Rankin. “There are people here that can barely walk and still participate.”

During the opening ceremony, the survivors were asked to take the first lap around the track at Deicke Park. The next lap was walked by the caregivers, all those who have helped anyone battling cancer.

Luminaria ceremony

Deicke Park's track lit up Friday evening with more than 4oo paper bags with a candle inside in honor of survivors or in memory of lost ones. Each bag cost ten dollars, profits going toward the American Cancer Society, the number one non-government fundraiser of cancer research.

The luminaria aspect of the night was dedicated to those whose lives were lost to cancer. Soon after nightfall, the paper bags were lit up on the track and members of the 18 teams walked past the glowing bags in commemoration of those people.

“I sit here and look at the community coming together and it’s just amazing,” Rankin said.

Huntley resident and reading and language arts teacher at Heineman Middle School Beverly Smith considers the luminaria her favorite part of the Relay for Life.

“It is quiet, poignant, memorable, and a moving experience,” said Smith, who sported a pin reading ‘My Mother is My Hero’ that night.  

Smith is the sponsor of the HMS student council, which led the school to raising $24,000 this year for Relay for Life, and more than $100,000 over the course of five years.

Smith’s connection to Relay for Life springs from her mother Nancy Crement, who was diagnosed in December of 1994 with uterine cancer, but overcame the disease through her constant positivity.

“No matter what would happen to her she stayed positive,” said Barb Amsler, Crement’s doctor at St. Joe’s Hospital. “She took all of her energy and put it into the relay.”

Fight back ceremony

Prior to her retirement, Carpentersville resident Nancy Crement worked as a counselor for adolescents involved in drugs and alcohol. A 17-year survivor of cancer, Crement is still giving back to the community—she manned the survivor’s tent on June 17-18 and is also on the planning committee for Relay for Life.

When Crement was first diagnosed with cancer, she had not seen a doctor for a couple of years. Luck was by her side when she found out the cancer had not taken too strong of a hold inside her body.

“I was fortunate that it was only stage two,” she said.

 Crement went through five weeks of radiation and therapy at St. Joe’s Hospital, where she met her doctor Barb Amsler, an 18-year survivor of breast cancer herself. Amsler also made an appearance at the Relay for Life and encourages her patients to participate.

 “Studies have been clear, those who can stay positive have the best survival statistics,” she said.

 Crement has maintained an optimistic outlook on her situation since she was diagnosed, and her doctor makes no hesitation in describing her as “absolutely awe-inspiring.”

 “She is such a strong person,” said Amsler. “She doesn’t even let anything get her down.”

Throughout the night, each team was asked to keep at least one member on the track at all times, while the others stayed in their tents or participated in various activities, like Baggo tournaments, pajama parties, and board games.

Closing time, sunrise

You see a glimmer of hope, all of a sudden the sun comes out and life moves on.

“They say if you go five years without a recurrence they consider you cured,” said Crement, whose sun has continued shining since treatment.

The Relay for Life lasted a good 12 hours, with fundraisers totaling more than $70,000 of the 192 registered participants plus 100 or so unregistered people joining the event. According to Maggie Kluck of the American Cancer Society, 97 percent of that money will go toward patient services, advocacy, and research.

To get involved with Relay for Life or to make a donation, visit relayforlifenorthernfoxvolley.com.

“Anything we can do to build awareness is so helpful,” Scerbicke said.