Happening now: West Seattle Relay for Life 2013

At West Seattle Stadium, 200 people are in the early hours of an all-night annual tradition raising money to fight cancer – Relay for Life of West Seattle. It’s running a different schedule this year, but one thing didn’t change – the survivors’ lap (above) to start it off. One of the two-dozen-plus survivors there today was the highlighted speaker for the kickoff, Angela Hurst (in purple, below). It’s been a year since she was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 37 and 16 weeks of pregnancy … a baby she lost from side effects of as she was about to begin chemotherapy that she was assured would be OK:

(added) Here’s video of Angela telling her story:

The stories are everywhere at Relay for Life, without even having to be told aloud:

And while the event itself runs about 18 hours, the fundraising began weeks and months ago. You might remember this mother-daughter team:

We reported on Lauri and Gerry Cunningham‘s take-out spaghetti-dinner fundraiser a week ago. They told us proudly today that they brought in $800!

WHAT’S NEXT: This morning’s daily preview on WSB includes the schedule for this evening, with events open to the public including Bubbleman‘s performance right now and the popular kids-music band Recess Monkey at 6:30, and then the luminaria ceremony at 10 pm, as participants and visitors remember those they’ve lost as well as paying tribute to those who are fighting. The stadium gates will lock at 11, but people will remain on the track all night, with closing ceremonies planned at 7:30 tomorrow morning. If you want to donate, you can do so while visiting the stadium or online, here.

1 Reply to "Happening now: West Seattle Relay for Life 2013"

  • Angela Hurst June 30, 2013 (10:42 pm)

    Hi,
    I just wanted to clarify that I lost the baby the day I was supposed to start chemo, but it happened before I started chemo. Chemo was postponed due to the loss of the baby. I was so thankful that if I had to lose him, I lost him before treatment started so that I wouldn’t ever feel that it was because of the chemo.
    Thank you!

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