{"id":58583,"date":"2014-04-09T15:23:42","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T19:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=58583"},"modified":"2018-09-07T11:17:32","modified_gmt":"2018-09-07T15:17:32","slug":"cancer-fight-hits-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/cancer-fight-hits-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer Fight Hits Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of flickering candles shone through the darkness at the annual Relay for Life in Lake Nona, each one representing a life affected by cancer. And as College of Medicine participants gathered at the huge fundraiser for the American Cancer Society<\/a>, the battle to cure the disease was a personal one. First-year medical student Robert Lisac was diagnosed with leukemia at age 12. College of Medicine admissions coordinator Wandy Cruz-Vel\u00e1zquez lost her 15-year-old cousin, Caleb, to brain cancer just days before the relay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here to support them, even though it\u2019s been really hard for me,\u201d Cruz-Vel\u00e1zquez said. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t even been two weeks since Caleb left us, but I just feel like my heart is in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lake Nona Relay brought in more than 200 participants April 4-5 who walked all night in shifts, so someone was constantly moving on the track at Lake Nona High School. Many stayed overnight in tents, until the event officially ended at 8 a.m. the next morning. Twenty College of Medicine students participated in the relay, and the college\u2019s student acapella choir performed the national anthem and serenaded the crowd during a survivor\u2019s dinner. The 25 participating teams raised more than $25,000 for cancer research.<\/p>\n

The event included a memorial for those who had lost their cancer battle. Participants lined the high school\u2019s track, each holding a candle. At 9 p.m., all the lights were turned out, making the stadium lit only by the hundreds of candles, some assembled on the bleachers to spell out the word HOPE. Twelve speakers each read a passage, dedicated to the 12 months of the year, and describing the events the late cancer patient had missed. Lisac lit each of their candles in his role as the Lake Nona Relay for Life mission chair.<\/p>\n

He talked about how his grueling battle with cancer had ultimately led to his dream of becoming a healer. \u201cIt was basically four years of the worst treatment you can imagine, I had a hip replacement after two years, two knee replacements\u2026 just a real complicated battle with cancer,\u201d he said. After receiving a bone-marrow transplant, Lisac has been cancer-free since high school. \u201cMy experience with leukemia is what led me to med school,\u201d he said. \u201cSpending so much time with doctors was an eye-opening experience, and I couldn\u2019t see myself doing anything else for a living.\u201d<\/p>\n

First-year medical student Chad Selph, joined the walk in memory of two people who perished from cancer \u2013 his\u00a0grandfather who died of leukemia four years ago, and his friend\u2019s mother, who just recently lost her battle. \u201cI don\u2019t know when we will find the true cure for cancer, but I\u2019m hoping if we do, that everyone will have the benefit of knowing that this might have been part of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cruz-Vel\u00e1zquez has been a leader at the Relay for Life for the last several years after losing her father to cancer. This year, she turned the leadership over to students, in part because she was helping her family care for Caleb, who was diagnosed with cancer last summer and died eight months later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is to eradicate cancer someday, and that idea excites me because way too many people are losing their lives to this disease,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that the cure exists, and hopefully I\u2019ll be a part of helping get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

To view a video version of this story, please visit https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=skxYUp-Udgo<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of flickering candles shone through the darkness at the annual Relay for Life in Lake Nona, each one representing a life affected by cancer. And as College of Medicine participants gathered at the huge fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, the battle to cure the disease was a personal one. 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