Hope shines through the darkness

Matt Unrau

The rain came on Thursday night and lasted until the morning. It rained hard and furiously pounded Sanders County threatening the Relay for Life in Thompson Falls. But, when the rains cleared later that day, relay for life was still there pressing forward. It served as a testimony to the cancer survivors who triumphantly marched around the track declaring in one loud voice to the world that they are still here, still fighting and still living their lives.

Due to the record rainfall on Thursday night and Friday morning, the relay for life was postponed for an hour, while officials scrambeled to move the event off of the flooded Thompson Falls high school track and into the gym. However, it was worth the wait as the crowd burst out in cheers clapping to “celebrate good time” that pumped out of the speakers during the first lap by the thirty to forty survivors at the event.

At the front of the line cancer survivors Ty Damaskos, Arlene Mack and John Beckman carried the relay for life banner. For Damaskos it touched his heart deeply to be asked to lead the rest of the survivors. “It’s pretty important,” says a tearful Damaskos. “You’re leading a bunch of guys who fought pretty hard.”

On the outside Damaskos seems like most everybody else, but one look in his face and his eyes and you can sense a hard fought battle, and the sweet relief that comes from a hope that was finally answered.

For Damaskos its a battle that is still very fresh in his mind. His treatment started in February of last year, and he had his final treatment, a stem cell transplant in February. He has been cancer free since May 5. “You don’t ever plan on getting cancer. You don’t even think about it until it happens,” says Damaskos.

Damaskos says the key for him was believing and staying positive. “Just keep a really good attitude, believe in yourself and lean on your family.”

Another survivor has a different strategy. Deb Achatz, from Trout Creek, substitutes tears for laughter. She says the key is to “laugh your way through it.” This is her key to winning the battle.

Achatz discovered she had breast cancer on her 45th birthday, had chemo-therapy for six months, radiation for six weeks and after five years they told her “definitively that something other than breast cancer will kill you,” she says with an ironic laugh.

Although Achatz has plenty of laughter in her life now being cancer free for 14 years she still has questions and doubts why she got cancer when she saw herself as a very healthy adult who ate right and lived right. Although, there is no known cause for cancer, Achatz thinks it was the stress in her life that really brought it on, which may explain why she now spends her days laughing. “I think it happened for a reason,” says Achatz. “I was stressed and I think stress is a killer.”

For Damaskos it was an emotional night all around. He spoke in halted sentences, taking several breaks to compose himself before he could describe what the night meant for him. On the second lap in the gym, Damaskos’ family and friends that had supported him through his battle, christened “Team Ty” ran up to him and walked the second lap. Describing it later, Damaskos had only tears to describe what the moment meant for him. It’s part of a new Ty thats more emotional, and appreciates his relationships on a much larger scale especially his relationship with his wife and two sons. “I’m glad I made it,” says a beaming Damaskos. “I plan on being around for a long time.”

Like Damaskos Achatz says getting cancer has healed alot of her relationsips with her loved ones especially with her sister. More than that it made her take a closer look at all her relationships. As she plowed through the parking lot in her 2 1/2 hour relay stint she talked about how special it was to see everyone here supporting each other. “Everyone needs to support people that are fighting, support each other and future people yet to be diagnosed,” says Achatz.”We really need each other to get through this kind of stuff.”

This serves as the main theme, which was emphasized late in the evening during the luminary ceremony. At dusk survivors and supporters lit hundreds of candles, which they place in white lunch bags labeled after people who had died and fought through cancer. The hundreds of bags sat in a gigantic circle in the middle of the parking lot casting a hopeful glow memorializing both those who had died from cancer and hope for the future.

With the bags lit, officials read the list of names written on the bags in a touching ceremony moving the hearts of everyone in the lot. Before reading the names officials summed up the true meaning of the night’s activities. “Together we should fight this…together we will fight this…together we will win.”