43
Color run benefits cancer facility
By Sean Barron
AUSTINTOWN
Kelly Mantalis of Massillon fought back tears as she recalled several glowing attributes that she feels best described her late cousin, Taylor Nelson.
“She was the most-beautiful girl who had a beautiful smile,” Mantalis said of Taylor, who died Nov. 14, 2009, at age 5 after having lost her battle with neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that typically forms in the adrenal glands and most often affects children 5 and younger. “She loved to dance and make people happy and was full of positivity and life.”
To honor and remember Taylor, Mantalis was one of about 50 members of “Team Taylor,” one of the groups that participated in Sunday’s 5K Color Run/Walk in Austintown Township Park, 6000 Kirk Road.
Hosting the gathering was Yellow Brick Place, a Youngstown-based wellness and resource facility for people in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties with cancer as well as their loved ones and caregivers.
An estimated 250 runners took part in the event, the proceeds of which are to benefit Yellow Brick Place, noted Anna Aey, a cancer survivor and one of YBP’s founders.
A goal is to exceed last year’s $5,000 total, said Donna Detwiler of North Lima, the facility’s other founder.
The Mahoning Valley Hospital Foundation was the gathering’s main sponsor.
Mantalis encouraged those who receive a cancer diagnosis and their loved ones to maintain a positive attitude as much as possible, live each day to the fullest and refrain from taking anything or anyone for granted.
Also happy to have participated were Rylie Grantonic, 13, and Dakota Bartels, 14, neither of whom seemed to mind being among those who were covered in colored baking soda. The two teens were part of “Team XC,” short for cross country.
“We both do cross country, so we just figured this would be a good team name,” explained Dakota, a South Range Middle School eighth-grader.
Rylie, a Boardman Glenwood Middle School eighth-grader, said she’s participated in running events and that she enjoyed being part of the Color Run/Walk.
“It was so much fun,” she said, despite having been caught in light rain.
Yellow Brick Place seeks to be a source of comfort, inspiration and hope for people battling cancer, such as Donna Jean Taylor of Austintown, who was diagnosed last February with lymphoma, a form that affects the immune system.
“She had cancer and knew my ups and downs,” Taylor said of her counselor. “She let me ask questions I was scared to ask anyone else. If it wasn’t for her, I honestly don’t think I would have made it.”
Taylor added that she recently completed her sixth chemotherapy treatment and that her cancer “shrank to nothing.” Taylor still has to undergo blood work and a CT scan, she continued.
Taylor also was grateful for the opportunity to express her feelings at Yellow Brick Place without being judged, she said.