Daniel McFadden | Staff Writer
Celebrate. Remember. Fight back. These are the words which echoed through Trinity’s cricket pitch last Wednesday as the first ever on campus Relay for life took place. The event which is organised by the Trinity Cancer society is a fundraiser for cancer research which involves teams of 15 to 20 people walking around a track tagging each other in and out for 24 hours. The event was started by the American Cancer Society in the 1980’s and now takes place in over 20 countries across the globe. Relay for life gives communities a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember lost loved ones, and fight back against the disease.
“Students vs. Cancer” was another common phrase used and there was a real feeling that we as students were together facing up to a disease which has affected so many
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Last Wednesday it was the turn of Trinity students and staff to come together in order to take a stand against cancer. All teams gathered at 12pm to attend the opening ceremony, many of Trinity’s societies such as VDP, Sci-Fi and Cumann Gaelach submitted teams as well as a team of postgraduates and other teams comprised of various different friends group who came together to make a difference. The opening ceremony was filled with an air of excitement as current president of Trinity Cancer society Sarah McAvinchey opened the event. She spoke of the importance of Relay for life and how “it gives the students of Trinity hope that one day we will beat cancer”. “Students vs. Cancer” was another common phrase used and there was a real feeling that we as students were together facing up to a disease which has affected so many. The opening ceremony ended with a poignant speech from breast cancer survivor, Bronagh McAvinchey. She spoke of how important Relay for life had become to her before beginning to walk the first lap with other survivors present at the event. All teams then joined in for the caregivers lap and the event commenced with a strong group of 100 people circulating a small marquee in front of the Pav.
Various different activities took place throughout the day including tag rugby, football, space hopping, cricket and dancing. In order to keep the laps interesting many of them were themed. Some laps involved everyone having their hands down their trousers to raise awareness of testicular cancer and another lap involved participants having their hands on their chest to bring attention to breast cancer. The other laps were slightly more conventional including a backwards lap, a three legged lap and a wheelbarrow lap. As the day continued on many friendships were struck up over the serving of such delicacies as chilli con carne, pizza and haribo sweets. The first bout of tiredness was notably setting in as darkness began to fall over the now well defined track. The evening saw two great performances one by the intervarsities hip hop group from DU Dance and the other from the Trinitones. Both performances were very well received and lifted the spirits of the now slightly fatigued participants. It shows everyone can contribute to the fight against cancer whether you are walking around a track or singing to the participants, you are making a difference.
Samm believes the importance of this ceremony lies in the emotions it evokes, “sometimes people need to feel that sad emotion and I think this is a great place to feel it; because we’re all in it together”
As night time fell and many individuals in suits and dresses walked past the track to attend C.S.C ball, relayers prepared for their candle of hope ceremony which was to take place in the sports centre where the night time portion of relay would be. This ceremony is the emotional highpoint of the event as it is where participants remember those they have lost to cancer. The candle of hope bags which are decorated by participants are spread around the track, each relayer stands by a bag as someone reads out the possible ways you may know someone who has cancer. As your way is read out you sit down and break the glow stick inside your bag. Fourth year student Eimear Burns then sang a beautiful rendition of “Songbird” originally by Fleetwood Mac and Trinity Choral Society serenaded the crowd with Sarah McLachlans “In the arms of an angel”. Samm Silverman organiser of the ceremony then told two touching stories of young people who had suffered from the disease. Samm believes the importance of this ceremony lies in the emotions it evokes, “sometimes people need to feel that sad emotion and I think this is a great place to feel it; because we’re all in it together”. The consistent theme of standing together is again reinforced in this ceremony.
Relayers then faced into a long night in the sports centre, music played all night to keep spirits high as well as a showing of popular musical film Pitch Perfect to ease people into the early hours. Many still remained energetic even skipping around the track, refusing to let the exhaustion and lack of sleep bring them down. As we reached 4:00am the amount of people on the track dwindled and the number of bodies sleeping around the sides increased. Morning came and it was time to finish the final few hours outside. The participants were treated to scones and sandwiches wile the Trinity Ceili band played. This gave them the final burst of energy to finish the final few laps. As the last lap finished a big cheer was let out and the event was closed. It was visible that everyone knew they had taken part in something important for the last 24 hours and all relayers were very proud to have been part of such a tremendous event.
We will remember that we celebrated survivors of this awful disease, we remembered those amazing people who we lost and as a college we fought back against it
All that is left on the cricket pitch now is a dirt track generated by hours of walking. However what will remain in the minds of Trinity students is so much more, we will remember that we celebrated survivors of this awful disease, we remembered those amazing people who we lost and as a college we fought back against it. Relay for life gave over 200 people a platform to fight back against cancer, so often as you see loved ones suffer you feel powerless. For 24 hours no one was powerless, everyone was fighting and it is this ability to fight which brings so much comfort to those whose lives have been touched by cancer. President of Trinity Cancer Society Sarah McAvinchey finished off the event with a look to next year, “I can’t wait until next year when more teams can get involved and more money and awareness can be raised”. Next year even more people will fight against this disease and more the year after that as we hope to be the generation to beat cancer.
Photo by Sinéad Baker.
