Elizabeth Bailey says she’s “one of the lucky ones” because her kidney cancer was caught — by accident — in an early stage.
“Nobody wants to hear those words, ‘You have cancer.’ You hate those words,” said the 39-year-old cancer survivor, who will be participating in the upcoming Relay for Life of Leflore County community walk on Friday.
A car wreck is what Bailey believes saved her life and prevented the cancer from worsening.
Bailey was driving to work from her Carroll County home on a Sunday morning in March 2014. During her journey, she took her eyes off the road briefly when she spotted a sheep show taking place in a field nearby.
“When I glanced back up, there was a big doe in front of me. It startled me, and I swerved to miss her,” said Bailey. “I didn’t realize how close I was to an embankment.”
Bailey’s vehicle rolled, and she was dragged about 20 feet, she said. Her left arm was pinned by the car.
She was quickly transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
While several tests revealed that Bailey’s arm was the only injury she sustained from the wreck, they also detected a cancerous tumor on her kidney.
“I didn’t have any symptoms. If it wasn’t for the car wreck, the doctor told me it might have gone undetected until a later stage,” said Bailey.
A couple of months later, she had laparoscopic surgery to remove the tumor.
“Some people are not so lucky,” Bailey said. “There are people who have to take chemo, and I was one of the lucky ones. I didn’t have to go through all of that.”
Bailey participated in Relay for Life for the first time as a cancer survivor last year.
“It was weird,” she said. “There’re no words to explain the feeling of walking (in Relay for Life) as a survivor.”
This year, she is a part of the Happy Feet Divas team.
The community walking event, which will be at the Leflore County Agri-Center, is held by the American Cancer Society annually in an effort to raise money for cancer research, education and prevention and to provide free information and critical services for people who have been diagnosed with cancer.
Relay for Life of Leflore County aims to raise $60,000 this year for the American Cancer Society, said Dollinda Malone, also a member of Happy Feet Divas and a team leader.
“This is one of the best fundraisers, because about 80 percent of the funds raised go toward research for all cancers,” said Malone.
Prior to Friday, area teams have been holding fundraisers, such as Donuts with Disney, a barbecue competition and a wine tasting.
The Friday evening event is the culmination of the teams’ hard work throughout the fundraising year, another means to collect money for cancer research and a way to honor those who have been affected by cancer.
“I have been involved with Relay for seven years now,” said Malone. “My co-worker lost her husband to cancer in 2008, so that inspired our desire to help.”
Malone has also been personally affected by cancer.
“I have lost every woman on my side of my family to cancer, all the way back to my great-grandmother,” she said. “So for me it is not if I get cancer, it’s when. Maybe what effort I give now will help me or my daughter in the event we are diagnosed with cancer.”
The fundraising celebration will include a survivors dinner, a silent auction, an opening ceremony and a luminaria ceremony.
There will be live entertainment throughout the event by Jon and Angela Byrd, Men of New Zion, the Pounders Family Ministries, and Encounter, which includes a group of Pillow Academy high school students.
The event will also have a food court featuring B&S Barbeque, Teoc Smokers and Dixieland Concessions. Sonic will be at the event with its tea tent. A portion of the vendors’ sales will go to Relay for Life.
A children’s corner will include inflatables and face painting. For a $5 wristband, a child can play all night.
The event will also feature craft vendors this year.
To start the Relay for Life walk, local cancer survivors will make the trek around the track first. Teams usually gather around to cheer for the cancer survivors.
There will also be a caregivers lap, which celebrates friends, family, neighbors and co-workers who have supported those with cancer.
The luminaria ceremony starts right after the sun sets and features candle-lit bags around the walking track, each featuring on the front the name of a cancer victim or survivor. The bags are $10 each and can be purchased before the walk or prior to the ceremony on the day of the event.
The guest speaker this year will be Stephanie Vann Tannehill of Ridgeland. She will share her story about being diagnosed with breast cancer.
“If you’ve never helped with Relay for Life, don’t wait until something happens to you. Try to give to help prevent those cancer words from coming into your life,” said Bailey.
To be a vendor at Relay for Life, call 237-6624.
For more information about the event, visit www.relayforlife.org/leflorems.
• Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7233 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
