Madison Co. Relay for Life raises $300K for cancer fight

Cancer survivors and supporters took the first of many steps around the Jackson Fairgrounds track Saturday morning to open the American Cancer Society Relay for Life fundraiser.

Participants gathered in what organizers said was about 47 tents and camp sites, showing their support with signs, T-shirts, balloons and edibles.

One group of enthusiastic supporters dressed in red, white and blue walked the track led by an American flag. They shouted "America." Supporters dotted the field early Saturday morning, but Jodi Parrish, chairman of the Madison County Relay for Life, said the number of attendees would reach the thousands before the day ended. She said Madison County's Relay event is the largest in the state.

"We raise more money than any other county in the state of Tennessee," Parrish said.

The county had raised about $300,000 as of Saturday morning, and organizers hope to raise over $400,000 by the end of August.

Katherine Bond of the Community Relay for Life fundraising team said her group had raised over $7,000. Bond, a cancer survivor, sat with three other survivors and one supporter at the group's tent.

"We're just here for the walk," she said.

To some cancer survivors, being able to put one foot in front of the other in a slow pace around the track was a cherished accomplishment.

But Mark McSwain said he ran on Saturday, 37 months after his last treatment for squamous cell carcinoma cancer.

"I couldn't swallow. I couldn't talk. I couldn't even make my own saliva," McSwain said.

But on Saturday, he ran.

"First I could barely walk around," he said. "This time I ran the second lap."

McSwain said he had 35 radiation treatments on his neck and tongue and 16 chemotherapy treatments.

"It was a trying, trying time, but Relay for Life is all about more birthdays, and I've had four more since then," he said.

Breast cancer survivor Jewell Powell said she has had four more birthdays, and Dana Morris, who helped organize the first children's walk this year, has had 10 more.

Small, white paper lunch bags decorated with the words "in memory of" and "in honor of" lined the outdoor track Saturday. They were filled with Ziploc bags of sand and plastic-cupped votive candles.

Organizers said later Saturday they would light the candle wicks in a ring of light during a 9 p.m. luminaria ceremony of quiet reflection.

"Cancer probably touches every one of us some way or another," McSwain said.