Welcome to the personal page of: Timothy Watt

My Reason to Relay

My reasons for doing the Relay have grown since I first began. Several years ago, before I really knew anything at all about cancer, my grandma had breast cancer. Luckily, it was caught in time and was surgically removed. She has since been cancer free.

That was before I became involved with the Relay. After my first year, I learned that my neighbor had contracted cancer behind her lungs, and unfortunately the cancer was in an area in which operation was impossible. She underwent chemotherapy, which seemed to work for a while, but it didn't take long for the cancer to return, stronger than ever. She had been given only a few months to live, and she surpassed that. She was taken to the hospital on 3-14-09, and unfortunately she never made a recovery.

Around the same time, I learned that one of my dad's friends had terminal brain cancer. She was given only a few weeks to live. After two years she was still fighting. She lost her battle in May 2009.

About a year and a half later, I learned about two young boys...toddlers, who had terminal brain cancer. These boys aren't related, but their situation is essentially identical. Neither child is expected to make it to adulthood, or even adolescence. Unless, of course, a cure is discovered. And the only way to discover a cure is through research.

Now most recently...a friend of the family was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer a few months ago. He wasn't expected to live more than a few weeks. His battle with cancer was not pleasant. He suffered immense pain and wanted nothing more for the pain to just end. He died on March 9, 2009.

The reality of cancer is so blunt...so merciless, that it almost seems surreal. And yet, mortality couldn't be any more real. We are fragile beings, and it's time we stood by each other to help end the madness of people dying and leaving behind grieving family and friends. It doesn't have to be this way, and together we CAN make a difference.

Please make a donation to me or join my team. You are helping deliver the hope that future generations will not have to endure cancer threatening the lives of their friends and family. You have the power to fight back against a disease that affects millions.

The American Cancer Society has funded researchers that have been involved in virtually every cancer breakthrough, including mammography to screen for breast cancer, the Pap smear to test for cervical cancer, the link between smoking and lung cancer, and more recently the link between obesity and a higher risk for the disease. Forty of the researchers it funded early in their careers have gone on to win the Noble Prize!

My love for this organization has grown tremendously. In my five years of participating, words can just not describe the feeling that overtakes me when watching the list of survivors and victims during the Ceremony of Hope. I pledge not to stop Relaying until a cure for cancer is found, only until my body is physically unable to do so.

You can be sure your donation will be put to good use!

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