It's pretty tough to wrap one's head around even the basic facts around cancer. Nearly one in two Canadians is expected to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, while about one in four Canadians is expected to die from cancer.
Those statistics are straight from the Canadian Cancer Society's website. Although those numbers are staggering no matter how you look at it -- there have been significant improvements in prevention, screening, early detection and treatment. This progress is reflected in the consistent decline in cancer mortality rates since 1988.
Statistics are just numbers and are rather abstract. It's not until someone close to you is diagnosed with cancer that you really grasp the gravity of it all.
When staff and students at Hugh Sutherland School in Carstairs found out that three students, all in Grade 12, were diagnosed with cancer, they were all stunned, as you would imagine.
A cancer diagnosis often means a long procession of trips to cancer clinics and/or hospitals for treatments. For families of school-aged children it can be very difficult. Not only is it emotionally draining but it's expensive paying for gas, accommodation, food and more.
One of the positive things to come out of that experience was seeing students, staff and members of the community digging deep to help out the families of those three.
Kristin Kinakin, a Grade 8 student, raised over $3,000 all by herself. Not only that, but she shaved her blonde locks right to the scalp. Teacher Sherry Pike also shaved her hair at the same time.
In Didsbury, another story I recently wrote was about the Terry Fox Run here needing a local coordinator with the local fire department stepping away.
The town has been involved in the run since 1983 and has raised an amazing $125,386 for cancer research. In total, over $750 million has been raised worldwide in Terry's name through the annual Terry Fox runs. There is no doubt that money has led to research which has helped reduce those awful cancer mortality rates.
The Didsbury run already has a great location, Rosebud Park, where organizers and runners don't have to worry about security issues around traffic.
Here's hoping that someone or some group steps up soon to organize the run. Knowing this community and the great volunteers we have, I have little doubt this will happen.
- Craig Lindsay is the reporter for the Mountain View Gazette
