“If you haven’t had cancer touch your life, it will,” Kaitlynn Brang, a junior at EMU majoring in secondary education, said.
Brang said those words with sincerity because it has directly touched her own life. It was the loss of several family members that led Brang to become the mission director chair for EMU’s Relay for Life event.
“There’s my grandma, my grandpa [who died of cancer], but I’ve also lost two aunts to cancer; I’ve lost friends to cancer. One was a guy who was fourteen and was my brother’s friend,” Brang said.
“When you lose someone that young to cancer, it hits you really hard. This is why we’re here. We’re doing it for them, for their families so that this never happens again and no one loses their child.”
For Brang, fighting against cancer is a longtime passion. She has been participating in Relay for Life events for 11 years, starting when she was just nine-years-old.
Relay for Life is a series of national events hosted by the American Cancer Society. These events take place throughout the year all across America.
“At my house we have this motto, ‘Cancer Never Sleeps,’ so Relay is part of our house 24-7, 365 days of the year. We fund raise all-year round,” Brang said.
EMU will be hosting their Relay for Life event starting at 1 p.m. April 13 in University Park. So far, EMU has 59 teams — a total of 492 members — signed up and $14,827 raised.
Brang’s determination to cure the disease comes from both the resolve of dealing with cancer-related tragedies and an understanding of the universality of it.
“Cancer doesn’t see a difference between age, gender, race, religion. It affects everyone. It’s affected me. It’s affected this community. It’s affected this campus,” Brang said.
Relay for Life participant and EMU student Matthew Rutkoske can also testify to the universal, indiscriminant nature of cancer.
“Last semester I was diagnosed with cancer and had surgery. They caught it early, but I had surgery and I lost my large intestine,” he said.
Although Rutkoske is doing well after his surgery, he still remembers the helplessness he felt.
“Sometimes you feel like there’s nothing you can do about cancer. It’s mostly just about trying to have a goal for something. Hopefully sometime in the future we can be rid of cancer.”
Rutkoske’s experience with cancer and his desire for a brighter future without it have led to his participation in EMU’s event. It has given him hope, for which he is thankful.
“[The best part] is probably just the hope,” Rutkoske said. “It’s the best and the worst, because it’s giving people hope, but you don’t know how much longer you’ll have to keep fighting.”
Relay for Life EMU’s Event Chairperson Lauren Mayleben is also dedicated to continued aid in the fight, even if it’s a long fight.
While she has never experienced cancer firsthand, she understands the importance of fighting against it.
“I know how devastating it is to have to be the one to have to watch someone go through cancer, chemotherapy, radiation and know that there’s nothing you can do but give your love and support,” Mayleben said. “You can’t fix it for them. I never want to have to see anyone else go through that in their lives.”
Mayleben is not only concerned with making sure others never have to experience cancer, she is also concerned about herself. With a large family history of cancer, which includes her mother, her worry might be justified.
“My mom is a breast cancer survivor of five years as of October. That’s when it really hit home for me,” Mayleben said.
Although her mother survived her battle with cancer, some of her other family members did not.
“I’ve had nine people in my family who have had cancer. Some of them, unfortunately, have lost the battle. But a majority has survived.”
It is that survival that is truly the goal of these sorts of events. It’s the survival that allows people to hope. It reminds those affected by cancer that even in their darkest moments there is someone out there who deeply cares for them and wants to see them get better.
The stories of Brang, Rutkoske and Mayleben might seem sad, but really these are stories of perseverance and hope.
If you would like to join them in their mission to end cancer, you can find more information about how to become involved through The American Cancer Society’s website at www.acsevents.org
