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Why do we relay?
“Cancer does not stop for nighttime.”
RELAY FOR LIFE starts at dusk and ends at the next day’s morning. The light and darkness of the day and night parallel the physical effects, emotion, and mental state of a cancer patient while undergoing treatment.
The RELAY begins when the sun is setting. This symbolized the time that the person has been diagnosed as having cancer. The day is getting darker and this represents the cancer patient’s state of mind as the feel that their life is coming to an end.
As the evening goes on it gets colder and darker, just as the emotions of the cancer patient does. Around 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. represents the time when the cancer patient starts treatment. They become exhausted, some sick, not wanting to go on, possibly wanting to give up. As a participant, you start to feel much the same way. You are tired, want to sleep, maybe even want to go home, but you cannot stop or give up.
Around 4:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. symbolizes the coming of the end of treatment for the cancer patient. Once again they are tired, but they know they will make it.
The sun rising represents the end of treatment for the cancer patient.
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