BY CHERYL SHUMWAY
North Country This Week

LOUISVILLE -- Cancer survivors “fought back” Friday at the Rally for a Cure at Louisville Arena.

They were wearing purple T-shirts that said Relay for Life, the former name of the annual fundraising event for the American Cancer Society.

“The mental aspect of cancer is the worst. It is hard to recover from that,” said Lucas Purser, Massena, speaker at the event. Purser lost his right arm and had serious back surgery due to cancer. He is now training in hope of competing in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.

More than a dozen cancer survivors were honored and cheered as their names were read by emcee Jerry Manor, after an invocation by Dale Kramer. Lucas Benedict sang the National Anthem. Then they walked around a loop lined by luminarias, that were to have been lit later in the evening in honor of cancer victims.

The participating survivors included Pat Beaulieu, Audra Ash, Jennifer Snyder, Lucas Purser, Margaret Cole, Mary Ann Sequin, Joy Sebring, Kathyrn Malark, Deborah Sherman, Karissa Castanier, Gene Ackerman, Ralph Marasco, Robin Wolpin, Kelly LaRock and Robert Wilkin.

The third annual Color 5k Walk/Run fundraiser followed. The event also featured craft and vendor tables, food concessions and North Country Crusaders, appearing as Batman and Captain America. A dunking booth was also planned.

“There has been tremendous support from the community,” said Chris Chandler, of the Relay for Life committee. The local event has taken place for more than 30 years, he said.

Speaker Lucas Purser said he joined the Air Force and was deployed to Saudi Arabia after graduating from Massena High School in 2008. He is now a computer science major at SUNY Buffalo. He said the Wounded Warrior program helped him a great deal with his recovery.