Dr.Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon in Tacoma, Wash., took a fateful first step in 1985 when he used his experience as a marathon runner to raise money for the American Cancer Society. He spent an arduous 24 hours running and walking Baker Stadium’s track at the University of Puget Sound, logging more than 83 miles and raising $27,000.
The seeds for the largest worldwide movement to fight cancer had been planted.
Locally, the 11th annual Relay For Life, which includes Culver City and the communities of Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Palms and Venice will kick off at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 14, on Culver City High School’s athletic field. A pancake breakfast provided by the Culver City Fire Department will follow.
The Survivor Lap at approximately 9:30 a.m. that day will include a new twist this time around. “This year, not only are we honoring all our survivors in the opening lap of relay, but we are recognizing and honoring all the caregivers who have helped someone through the cancer journey,” said Linda Hirsh, the event chair.
Another first is that AMP Radio (97.1 FM) will broadcast live from the relay between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. “We have entertainment lined up after 2 p.m.” added Hirsh.
“Throughout the day on Saturday, in addition to all the bands and entertainers, there will be games and contests on the infield,” she continued. “All these games relate to cancer in some way and prizes are awarded to the winners. We will also be playing Bingo and selling raffle tickets, with several drawings on Saturday. Last year we had some terrific gifts donated and we’re working on getting our raffle gifts for this year.”
Luminaria bags will be available for purchase and will be hand-decorated at the site. Hirsh described the Luminaria Ceremony, at 9 p.m., as the “emotional highlight” of the event. After the ceremony, a children’s movie will be screened, followed by a movie for adults, with equipment donated by Samy’s Camera.
Hirsh became involved in the relay about 11 years ago. She recalled, “A dear friend of mine, Valerie, who lived in Westlake Village, started a team for relay out in Conejo Valley. She’d had cancer in one breast and then seven years later in the other breast. So I gladly joined her team and walked with them. She developed uterine cancer a few years later, lost her battle last May and I miss her terribly. She was a 21-year survivor from the time of her first diagnosis.”
Valerie was not the only friend she lost to the disease. “My friend Brad died just seven weeks after Valerie,” Hirsh said. “He had been diagnosed with stage IV prostate cancer and lived for two years. I was the person who took him to all his doctor visits, chemo treatments, radiation, etc. I had been friends with both Brad and Valerie for 35 years and lost them both in a span of seven weeks.”
Nine years ago, Hirsh was diagnosed with breast cancer. She continued to participate in the Conejo Valley Relay for the first five years after her diagnosis until learning that Culver City had a relay. She then joined Culver City’s organizing committee. She said can’t wait for next year, her “ten-year survival milestone.”
Having known many people with other types of cancer, Hirsh said she thought this organization “best served everyone, not just breast cancer survivors.” In fact, Sky Varinaitis-Kunerth, the survivor speaker at the opening ceremony, is a brain cancer survivor.
Varinaitis-Kunerth spoke about her diagnosis nine years ago. “I was 31. I was in my second year of marriage and I was pregnant. There is no one emotion that describes the feeling of hope extinguished. Now, add to that a brain and body saturated in pregnancy hormones and the anxiety of new motherhood, and what you get is choking fear.”
Her first sign of illness was a gran mal seizure in May of 2002, when she was eight months pregnant. After the birth of her daughter, she had surgery to remove what she described as a “tennis ball-sized” tumor from her left frontal lobe. It was a grade IV glioblastoma multiforme. The prognosis was bleak, with one doctor mentioning the likelihood that she wouldn’t live long enough to see her daughter walk.
The initial treatment consisted of six harsh weeks of daily radiation concurrent with oral chemotherapy.
“My radiation treatment took one ‘Our Father’ to complete,” she recalled. “About week five of my radiation treatments, I couldn’t say the prayer. I just broke down and told God, ‘I can’t feel you. I can’t find you anywhere. If you are here, you need to give me a sign.’ I waited and nothing came.”
Feeling empty and alone, she proceeded to the waiting room and found Hirsh, “who was ‘radiating’ at the same time each day that I was,” she said. Hirsh saw that she had been crying and wanted to pray for her. Varinaitis-Kunerth recalled, “She asked me my last name. I said, ‘Kunerth.’” Hirsh then asked if her husband wrote for the television show Friends and upon learning that he did, responded, “Darlin’, I’m already praying for you.”
It so happened that long before their marriage, her husband worked at International Dairy Queen in Minneapolis, Minn., where Hirsh’s cousin was employed. The cousin’s friend had started a prayer circle for a former co-worker’s wife. When Hirsh accepted an invitation to join she was told to pray for a Sky Kunerth.
Pointing at the heavens, Varinaitis-Kunerth said, “Good one, big guy.”
Those interested in participating in Relay For Life are invited to call Hirsh at (310) 213-1576 or email her at nachas2@sbcglobal.net.
