Sarnia’s Gail Davis had no idea that the first Relay for Life she walked with her daughter Lisa – a breast cancer survivor at the time – would be the last. “She’d just had a treatment and I remember it was a beautiful day in Canatara,” recalls Davis. “Lisa noticed the sun shining through the […]
Sarnia’s Gail Davis had no idea that the first Relay for Life she walked with her daughter Lisa – a breast cancer survivor at the time – would be the last.
“She’d just had a treatment and I remember it was a beautiful day in Canatara,” recalls Davis. “Lisa noticed the sun shining through the trees and said to me that it gave her so much inspiration.
“She said she wanted us to go back to Relay for Life the next year as a team.”
Unfortunately, Lisa Brewer died only a few months later at the age of 30, leaving behind her husband and two young children.
At the next Relay for Life in Sarnia, a group of her friends surprised Davis by forming a team they called Lisa’s Angels.
“That first walk without Lisa was hard,” Davis said. “But I felt the strength of being with the people who loved her too. I felt like I was not alone in this.”
That was 20 years ago. Davis has since participated every year since in a variety of ways.
“It really has been my love and my hope,” she said. “To me, it’s keeping Lisa’s memory alive in my heart, and the memory of so many others who are no longer here because of cancer.”
Brewer’s children were ages 16 months and three years when she passed away in 2004. For years, the kids have attended the Sarnia Relay for Life with their grandmother. It is a special way to remember their mom.
“I remember when Nathan was six and he decorated a luminary with Toronto Maple Leaf stuff and said if his mom were alive, she would be a Leaf’s fan too.
“That really made us smile.”
The Sarnia Relay for Life is a six-hour event scheduled from 5 p.m.-11 p.m. on Saturday June 8. It takes place this year at the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park on Modeland Road.
A quarter-mile track is created for the occasion with teams and individuals walking in support of cancer survivors and in memory of those who are gone.
The first lap is reserved for survivors and each of their names is called out and cheered along the way. Many laps are fun laps with dancing, themes and music. Vendors are on site, along with a silent auction. This year, 19 teams of family and friends are signed up so far.
Davis has filled many roles at the Relay over the years and is this year’s chairperson of Participants of Hope (survivors).
Not only has Davis lost her daughter to cancer, she walks in honour of her mother, her sister and several friends. Davis herself beat cancer in 2020 when she required surgery for skin cancer on her face, followed by reconstructive surgery.
Nearly one in two Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime, she noted.
Registration is not moving as quickly as usual this year and Davis urged anyone who wants to participate to go online at cancer.ca. Details about the event can be found on Facebook at Sarnia-Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life. It’s hoped the community event will raise $75,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society.
Great Lakes Secondary School on Murphy Road is holding its own Relay for Life Youth Event on Friday (May 31). While it is for the students, all survivors are welcome to join in the survivors’ lap at 11:45 a.m., says guidance counsellor Karen L’Heureux.
The public can also support the Great Lakes Relay by attending a $10 car wash at the school between noon – 2 p.m. Friday.
“Our goal is $75,000 and we’re already half way there,” said L’Heureux. About 300 students are registered, including 30 teams. In addition, a tree has been planted in memory of former student Krista Pask who beat cancer when she was 16 but sadly passed away from the disease in 2019.
“We do all this for the students,” said L’Heureux. “So many have friends and family who they want to honour and support.
“I just love to see the students come together like this.”
To donate to the Great Lakes Relay for Life, visit relayforlife.ca/greatlakes.
