Relaying a positive message by example

June Casagrande

Judy Franco has looked a killer in the eye and, instead of shrinking

in fear, has risen to battle and emerged victorious. But her conquest

over a killer doesn’t make her unique. On the contrary, Franco, a

longtime school board member, is one of many who have confronted and

survived cancer.

“I think I knew that I had breast cancer before the doctors

verified it, so my attitude was that I have too many things left to

do, so let’s knock this out, let’s get rid of it,” Franco recalled of

her diagnosis in 2001. “That’s the way I approached it from the

beginning, this was something that was just another hurdle in the

road of life and it was something to fight and to win.”

That same year, after chemotherapy and radiation treatments,

Franco was declared cancer free.

Now, she has a message to share. As a living example of hope to

cancer survivors, Franco was the first to sign on as an honorary

survivor for this year’s Newport Beach Relay for Life Cancer

Fundraiser.

Today and Saturday, the Relay for Life returns for a third year to

Newport Beach. The all-night walk/run takes place at the field at

Newport Harbor High School, where walkers and runners take turns

representing their teams on a track. The event includes a “Luminaria”

candle-lighting ceremony in honor of people who have died of cancer.

And every year, several honorary survivors are chosen to kick off the

event with a speech and to stand as symbols of what hope can do.

“It shows people that there’s hope; it shows people they can

survive,” said Pat Smith, chairwoman on the Relay’s Honorary

Survivors Committee.

Smith, also a cancer survivor, was chairwoman for the past two

years of the event that raises awareness of cancer and funds for

cancer research. After having beaten ovarian cancer 16 years ago,

Smith learned recently that the cancer has returned and spread to her

lungs.

“It’s amazing the medical advances they’ve made in the last 16

years,” Smith said. “For this relay, three quarters of the funds we

raise go to research. And all the time I’ve been involved, little did

I know that the research would be helping me.”

Like Franco, Smith believes that determination and a positive

outlook are the most powerful tools in her arsenal.

“I beat it 16 years ago and I’ll beat it again,” Smith said.

Positive outlook is also what keeps the event going and growing.

“The event is expanding and growing throughout Newport-Mesa,”

Franco said. “It’s really positive to have the community coming

together like this to raise awareness and also to raise the funds to

search for a cure.”