Warren Relay includes mom who defied odds, 92-year-old survivor

WARREN

Cancer survivors, 600 of them clad in purple T-shirts with colorful letters emblazoned with the word “hope,” marched around Courthouse Square this evening.

They marched as thousands before them have for the last 30 years, their hope emblematic of Warren’s annual Relay for Life.

Each survivor represents a unique story of perseverance and survival.

Rosemary Blicher of Warren, honorary queen who led the march from her wheelchair, is a perfect example. She is 92 and has been cancer free for 30 years.

“I guess they didn’t want me up there,” she said as she gestured toward the sky, “so I’m doing God’s work down here.”

Ashley Tilton, 31, of Warren sported a shirt declaring her survival from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. Diagnosed with Stage 2 of Hodgkin’s when she was just 19, Tilton said she underwent chemotherapy and 30 radiation treatments. She has been in remission since 2002.

“They said I could never have children, but they were wrong,” she said, proudly pointing to her four children and to her husband, Mark, who pushed the youngest, a 20-month-old daughter, in a stroller.

“The message is we have to understand what needs to be done,” she said.

Tilton’s friend Heather Booth, 30, of Howland is in the early stages of her fight. The mother of three was diagnosed with breast cancer last February and already has undergone several chemotherapy treatments. Friday marked her first participation in the relay.

“You have to pay attention to your body,” she said. “Only you can find [tumors], and you shouldn’t let anything go.”

Read more about the event in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.