Cancer survivor Sandy Fultz will share her message with others at a unique Relay For Life event in Marshall
By Per Peterson
A little more than a year ago, Sandy Fultz used her new website to help fellow cancer survivors. Now, the Lyon County Relay for Life committee is asking her to use her words for the same purpose.
Fultz, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in March 2019, is this year’s “Ambassador of Hope” for Lyon County.
“Hope is what you rely on,” Fultz said. “Hope can be defined by a lot of different people in a lot of different ways, so I think you just have to take a step back and think about what hope means to you.”
Fultz had a tumor removed about two weeks after her March 13, 2019, diagnosis. But she has never taken cancer lying down (except for when she was in the hospital). After Fultz realized she couldn’t control what was happening with her appearance, she turned to the Internet to reach out to help others in similar situations; starting her website turned out to be therapeutic for her, and knowing she was helping others gave her a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. She had a feeling that she wanted to be strong, not necessarily for herself, but for others.
Also, she said taking on cancer head-on forced her out of some apprehensions she had about herself.
“The website, I had always thought about that before, but never had the confidence to do it,” she said. “When you’re suddenly faced with a diagnosis, you think, ‘What the heck? I’ve got nothin’ to lose.’ It’s not like all of a sudden I had all this new confidence, but part of it came from being strong through that diagnosis.”
Although there won’t be the traditional Relay for Life at the Fairgrounds this year, the Lyon County Relay for Life team is planning an alternative event to honor cancer survivors like Fultz. A drive-through meal fundraiser will take place from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24, at the Lyon County Fairgrounds in Marshall, at which time Fultz’s message will be played for all to hear. More details are available at www.RelayForLife.org/lyoncountymn
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.