Cancer Walk Draws Hundreds to the Seven-mile Exercise  

The annual Cancer Walk is decades old, but the event is just returning to the prominence it held before the COVID pandemic put a damper on it.  Organizers were forced to put a halt to the event at the height of the pandemic and adjust its route from 2022 and 2023. So, this year when it returned to its original Ladyville starting point, it set the tone for a resumption of the tradition. And it did not disappoint, as several hundred persons turned out to walk and even run the seven-mile journey. News Five followed along the route and Marion Ali filed this report.

 

Sydney Griffith, Participant, Cancer Walk

“I walked because I just had many family members who have died from cancer, survived cancer, and are fighting cancer, and it’s important to me to show support in any way that I can.”

 

 

 

 

 

Kash Sankofa, Participant, Cancer Walk

“I do the work because you don’t have to have a cancer before you walk. They say walk to prevent the cancer, so that’s why I come out to do the walking. Many of my friends I’ve never seen them for a long time and here they are today. I saw them, I’m very happy for that.”

 

 

 

 

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Kash Sankofa and Sydney Griffith represent many of those who walked the stretch on Saturday morning. They gathered near Celina’s in Ladyville with minutes to spare and, as the clock struck five a.m., the pair headed on foot towards Belize City. Their destination – the Belize Cancer Society’s headquarters off Coney Drive.

 

Along the way, there were several water and fruit tables set up where participants could access picker-uppers to continue the journey.

 

Kim Simplis-Barrow, President, Belize Cancer Society

“We’re still trying to recuperate from COVID-19, so it’s a struggle, but I think it’s getting better. The numbers were double what they were last year and we know it by the sale of the t shirts that we, have because we do keep a record. So we’re very thankful to all the companies and all the individuals who walk with their families and children and their husbands and wives.”

 

 

 

 

President of the Belize Cancer Society, Kim Simplis-Barrow, a cancer survivor, shared that every day is an uncertainty of how easy or difficult it will be.

 

Marion Ali

“As a survivor, how has it been over the years?”

 

Kim Simplis-Barrow

“Good days and bad days, but we just find strength in every which way we can and just battle it out. It’s really a blessing. It’s a privilege to be alive, and for me, it’s always really trying to be as positive as I possibly can.”

 

Catalina Coc is also a cancer survivor. She told us that she can relate to the uncertainty in a day, having just completed chemotherapy.

 

 

Catalina Coc, Cancer Survivor

“I didn’t come out to walk but I have my son, and my daughter, and my gentleman that did the walk for me. I’m just recovering from the trauma. Getting over the sickness, so I don’t feel like I have the energy to do it, but I have my family that supported me.”

 

 

 

 

Marion Ali

“How are you doing?”

 

Catalina Coc

“A lot better, a lot better, thank God. I have some harsh days, but thank God I made it through. And I just want to give a little advice to people that have it out there, don’t be scared, don’t be scared. Just be strong. Because everybody can overcome it. But if you begin to stress, then it will get worse. So that’s what I did. I try my best to be strong and eat healthy. That’s the most important part, eat healthy.”

 

President of the Cancer Walk Committee, Lawrence Ellis told News Five that as the event regains its popularity, they will plan to draw more funds from the participants.

 

Lawrence Ellis, President, Cancer Walk Committee

“We’re going to propose now is for each walker to donate something.  Because really this is a fundraiser and the money goes towards helping people in whatever way we can with their struggle with cancer, noh. We raise anywhere from $30,000 to $40,000, but we’re hoping that if every walker would donate a twenty or fifty or a hundred dollars, we could carry this number to sixty to a hundred thousand, hopefully next year.”

 

 

 

Ellis says the money they raise is used to help cancer patients.

 

Lawrence Ellis

“Sometimes they need a mammogram or a pap smear, or they need passage money to go to Merida. We can’t fully cover anybody cancer care, so we assist in any way that we can.”

 

Ellis says it is difficult to say how many people in Belize are suffering from cancer because there is not a cancer registry in the country to keep a record of that number.

 

But to prolong good health, Simplis-Barrow says that keeping a healthy diet and exercise are two key factors in living a healthier life.

 

Kim Simplis-Barrow

“Get the tests that they need to get, to do the examinations that they need to get. Going to the gym, working out, eating well, and yeah, just surround myself with as much positivity as I possibly can.”

 

 

 

 

Marion Ali for News Five.