Moorpark residents rally to fight cancer
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

The Moorpark Relay for Life is set to take place on June 2 and 3 at Moorpark High School. About 60 teams have signed up to walk the track for a 24-hour period from 10 a.m. on Saturday to 10 a.m. on Sunday to help raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Doc Dewberry is chairing this year's event. He participates in the Relay for Life, he said, because he wants a cure to be found for leukemia, the disease that killed his mother when he was only 10 years old.

"It makes me feel like I'm doing something in memory of my mom," said the longtime Moorpark resident, who's also been organizing entertainment for the event for the past six years.

Most leukemia patients succumbed to the disease in the 1960s, Dewberry said, but now many lives are saved, thanks in part to the American Cancer Society, which raises awareness and supplies funds for research to cure cancer.

Relay For Life is a fun-filled overnight event designed to bring together those in the community who've been touched by cancer. Survivors are celebrated and money is raised to help the American Cancer Society in its mission to save lives, help those who have been touched by cancer and empower individuals to fight back, according to the society.

"Relay is much more than a walk around a track. It is a time to remember those lost to cancer and celebrate those who have survived," Dewberry said.

In addition to sharing experiences and comforting one another, participants will honor survivors during the Survivors Lap and remember those who died from cancer during the luminaria ceremony.

"We also celebrate life, friendship, and a chance to work together toward a cancerfree future," Dewberry said.

Dewberry said he was still hoping more groups would join the worthwhile effort.

About 133,000 people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer in 2007, according to the American Cancer Society.

The cancer survival rate has increased significantly over the years because of earlier diagnoses and improved treatments, but success hasn't come without hard work, said Thomas Pflaumer, whose 16-year-old daughter, Breanna, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December 2004.

"We need to work together to beat this disease," said Breanna, who will walk during the Survivors Lap at the Relay for Life.

When she was first diagnosed, some doctors said she wasn't going to survive. But the family's persistent research led them to new doctors and innovative treatment options that killed Breanna's tumor. It's still in her head but is dead, her dad said.

"Breanna has passed a milestone with this type of cancer," he said.

Both Breanna and her family strived to defeat the cancer from the very beginning and they never gave up.

"You can't take no for an answer," said Pflaumer.

"I used to walk the Relay for Life before I was diagnosed with cancer, but I didn't walk it for the same reasons. Now it means a lot more to me," Breanna said, adding that her grandmother passed away from the disease,

"We need more people to participate in the Moorpark Relay for Life. Every little bit helps because there's going to be a day when we find a cure for this," Breanna said. "Every little bit counts. We need to work together to beat this."