Why do I Relay?

I joined the University of South Alabama Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) chapter in November 2010, a month after my paternal Grandfather was diagnosed with aggressive throat cancer because I felt it would help me cope with the bad news. I decided to become vice president soon after when I had the chance, I felt it was my calling and I just ran with it. I have had three other family members who have had cancer: my Nanny (maternal Grandmother) and my Great Aunt Joanie both had breast cancer and survived, and my maternal Granddaddy has had skin cancer on his nose multiple times. CAC felt like the right thing to volunteer with, so I have put my all into it since the day I started. On February 17, 2011, my Grandpa lost his 6 month battle with cancer. He was 80 years old and had lived a wonderful life married to my Grandma for 60 years, but I sometimes wonder how much longer he could have lived if cancer had not attacked him. Watching a family member die while cancer is slowly eating away at their body is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, and I want to stop anyone from ever having to see their loved ones suffer like my Grandpa did. I Relay in memory of my Grandpa, B. John Fey, and in honor of the other family members who have had cancer and defeated it. I want to create a world with more birthdays and more time for family and friends. I imagine a world with no suffering and no pain. I imagine a world with no cancer. That is why I Relay.