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Surrey breast-cancer survivor says charity run has ‘kept me alive’ for a decade

Sally Haysom is volunteer director of CIBC Run for the Cure, set for Sept. 30 at Bear Creek Park
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Newton resident Sally Haysom, volunteer director of the CIBC Run for the Cure at Bear Creek Park, in a photo from 2016. “Every year I take a picture of how many years cancer-free. This one was 8!” she says. (submitted photo)

One day a decade ago Sally Haysom was on the couch, recuperating from yet another surgery for the breast cancer that changed her life, when she saw a TV commercial for the CIBC Run for the Cure.

“At that moment I knew what I needed to do,” she told the Now-Leader. “I went online and registered to do the run. I spoke about it to my husband, children and grandchildren, asking for their support. I almost never made it to the run, as I had an unexpected surgery just a couple of days before the run, but I was determined to be there, bandages and all.”

So began a connection to an annual event that now involves Haysom as volunteer director of the run held in Surrey, at the Bear Creek Park track and surrounding paths.

This year’s gathering is on Sunday, Sept. 30, and Haysom, who lives in the Newton area, plans to be there with close to 1,000 others.

She originally attended Vancouver’s version of the charity event, but got involved in Surrey when the run was launched here six years ago.

“This run, along with my family and friends, is what has kept me alive these last 10 years,” Haysom says.

“Surrey needs this run,” she emphasized. “Surrey needs to set an example on how to set the bar for success. This city and all of its residents will come together to make this a run that no one will ever forget.”

At that first Run for the Cure she attended in Vancouver years ago, Haysom recalls her biggest worry as seeing only “a couple of pink survivor shirts ‘wandering around’ (survivors wear pink shirts). But when I arrived at the location I began to cry. All I could see everywhere I looked was pink shirts crawling everywhere. I burst into tears knowing that not everyone dies from breast cancer, and that there was hope for me.”

The history of the Run for the Cure dates to 1992, when the first such charity event was held at a park in Toronto.

“This marked the beginning of what was to become Canada’s largest single-day, volunteer-led event in support of creating a future without breast cancer,” says a post at cibcrunforthecure.ca. “Today, the event has nearly 100,000 participants and raises over $17 million annually in communities across Canada.”

The Surrey event, online at facebook.com/RunfortheCureSurrey, is among among eight Run for the Cure locations in British Columbia. Live music and a “family fun zone” are among attractions, along with a “Survivor’s Parade” led by pipes and drums.

“The first five years I did the actual run with my family and friends,” Haysom noted. “The year it opened up in Surrey in 2012, I became a part of the planning committee, giving up doing the run for being part of the run. These last two years I have been the run director and I have worked closely with the Canadian Cancer Society to make sure the message about breast cancer research gets out there.”

Haysom, 62, describes herself as a wife, mother of five, grandmother of 18 and, as of this month, a great-grandmother of three.

“Cancer just doesn’t hit the one person, it hits everyone in their life,” she added. “That is my mission now. To continually work to eradicate this cancer from our lives.”

The CIBC Run for the Cure is organized by staff and volunteers of the Canadian Cancer Society (cancer.ca).

“The generous support of volunteers helps to keep costs down, which directs more money to the Canadian Cancer Society to fund breast cancer research and health promotion initiatives,” says a post on the event website. “The Canadian Cancer Society invests the funds raised into breast cancer research, support services, health education and advocacy programs.”



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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