Kris Patella recently finished her chemotherapy treatments for stage three colon cancer.
John Sullivan’s daughter, 7-year-old Olivia, ran with a group of her classmates, with any scars from her surgeries for neuroblastoma hidden away.
Carol Lynch’s husband passed away after a cancer battle this year.
On Friday, Nov. 16, Fleetwood Elementary School in Mt. Laurel made a stand against cancer as part of the Relay Recess program of the American Cancer Society.
Patella, parent co-chair, was diagnosed with cancer in February at age 38 and subsequently underwent six months of chemotherapy.
“Five percent of people are under age 40 with colon cancer,” said Patella.
The symptoms were present, but she never thought it would be cancer, she said.
“You’re never cured from stage three,” she said.
Now she has to keep watch. If the cancer returns, she’ll fight it again.
Her children, students at Fleetwood, barely registered what she was going through, she said, thanks in part to the school community.
Or, how she refers to it, her Fleetwood family.
“Everybody’s touched by (cancer) at some point,” Patella said.
The run to fight cancer hit close to home for Sullivan, parent co-chair. His daughter, Olivia, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when she was a month old.
Neuroblastoma is the same disease that Alex Scott of Alex’s Lemonade Stand fought.
Olivia’s cancer was caught in the beginning stages and treated. Now she is happy and healthy.
“You wouldn’t even know it,” Sullivan said, aside from lasting scars from the incisions from her two operations.
“It really enlightens me on what’s going on with all the cancer with children, adults and everybody,” he said.
“It makes you think,” he added. “It happened to somebody close to me.”
If the regular checkups at the doctor’s office aren’t reminder enough of what his daughter went through, Sullivan said he has worn a “Cure Kids Cancer” bracelet since she was diagnosed in 2005, and has distributed several to other people.
Lynch, co-chair of the event, is the school’s physical education teacher.
Through regular runs, she has helped students stay active and healthy.
“Our families are awesome here,” Lynch said. “It’s a learning community, but it’s beyond that. We’re a family.”
All donations in the pre-k to fourth grade school were collected within a week, she said, with Patella adding that the event was put together quickly due to Sandy’s impact on the schedule.
According to School Nurse Sandy Alles-Bosch, co-chair, close to $1,000 was raised to fight cancer.
A Wall of Hope was erected outside of the gymnasium with $1 donations accepted for a donor’s card in the shape of a foot.
Luminaria bags, with a donation of $10 each, lined the outdoor track on which the students ran. The students decorated the bags, with drawings depicting angels and family members. Some bags had photographs attached to them.
The Relay Recess program is fairly new, said Ali Stefencavage, a representative from the American Cancer Society (ACS).
The program gets the students outside, active and passionate about the fight against cancer, she said.
“It starts at this age,” said Stefencavage.
Obesity, she said, is a main contributor toward cancer.
“Studies have shown that obesity is going to be just as big of a problem today as smoking has been for past generations,” she said.
Therefore, the hope is to create a healthier generation, by teaching them smart principles, such as eating healthy, staying physically active, not smoking and practicing sun safety.
“They learned about it in their health classes,” she said, before they took to the track.
For this program, the school takes care of the planning aspect. ACS provides it with materials to take home for implementation and to head down the healthy lifestyle road.
At Fleetwood, the students ran by grade level for about 20 minutes.
“We like them to develop a program that’s beneficial to their school and their community,” Stefencavage said.
Learn more
Find details on the Relay Recess elementary school program by the American Cancer Society or make a donation by visiting www.relayrecess.org.
Stay up to date with Fleetwood School by visiting http://fw.mtlaurelschools.org.
