When people hear the word cancer, multiple thoughts shoot through their head. Most everyone knows someone who has had cancer — it’s just too common.

Among the hundreds of types of cancer, lung cancer is the most popular type of cancer as of 2012. Unfortunately, lung and a few other types of cancer are the only ones recognized and known to society.
Tonight, Orange County Relay For Life will attend the home football game against West Washington to spread awareness of Childhood Cancer.

“Children have a 1/285 chance of getting cancer before the age of 20,” said chair of the committee Eva Warren-Hill. “We want to stop that. We are going to be raising awareness and selling t-shirts and other accessories.”

In 2014, it is estimated that around 13,500 children and adolescents from birth to 19 years old were diagnosed and 1,900 died of cancer.

As time goes on, the death rates are slightly rising yet survival rates are greatly improving. Although survival rates for most childhood cancers have improved in recent decades, the improvement has been especially dramatic for a few cancers, particularly acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is the most common childhood cancer.

Cancer kills more children than AIDs, asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and congenital anomalies combined.
At the event, Warren-Hill and a few committee members will answer any questions and take donations along with signing people up to be involved in Relay For Life.

“Raising awareness and educating the general public about childhood cancer is as just as important educating them about any cancer,” said Warren-Hill. “For me, a parent of a childhood cancer survivor, it’s maybe a little more important. I’ve heard the words ‘your child has cancer’ and I have watched my child hurt and not to be able to fix the hurt. I want to do everything I can, as one person, to make sure that one day no parent and no child has to endure the pain of childhood cancer.”

To help the fight against cancer, OC Relay for Life asks everybody to participate in some way. The smallest donations can help out tremendously. OC Relay For Life raised $15,000 this past season when their goal was $20,000.

Every year they get closer and closer and hope to reach their goal by next relay season. Let’s help find a cure to cancer.

Story by India Wong