A survivor from the day of diagnosis.

What survivor means here

At Relay, you are a cancer survivor from the day you are diagnosed. Not after treatment ends, not after five years, not when someone else decides. If you are living with cancer today, the Survivor lap is yours.

This matters more than it sounds. Many people in treatment do not feel like survivors yet. Relay says: you are, and we will walk behind you.

Nobody goes through cancer alone. That is why caregivers walk the next lap.

The Survivor lap

Every Relay opens with it. Survivors walk the first lap of the track, often in a sash or a coloured shirt, while everyone else stands along the edge and cheers. Some Relays lead the lap with a school band or a drum line. Some ask the local fire brigade to place the sashes. Some open with a single survivor walking alone, for all the survivors who could not come, before the rest join in.

Then the caregivers walk. Partners, parents, children, friends, nurses. At some Relays the caregivers of people who have died walk with them, holding a purple rope, because a caregiver is a caregiver still.

For caregivers

A caregiver is anyone who carried someone through cancer: a partner, a parent, a child, a sister, a friend, a nurse, the neighbour who drove to every appointment. Many caregivers do not think of themselves as one. They think they only did what anyone would do. Relay disagrees, and says so out loud.

At most Relays, caregivers walk the lap right after the survivors, or join the survivors for it. Some Relays give them their own sash or pin. Some hold a caregiver lap in the evening, with the survivors lining the track to cheer, so the roles are reversed for one lap.

Caregivers whose person has died

You are still a caregiver. Relayers have a name for it: angel caregivers. Some Relays give them a purple rope to hold as they walk together, so nobody walks that lap alone. Others give a small gift, or a flower, or simply read their names. If you are one, the Luminaria Ceremony that night is yours as much as anyone's.

What Relays do for caregivers

• A caregiver of the year. Survivors nominate the person who carried them, with a few sentences about why. One is chosen and honoured from the stage; the nominations themselves are read aloud or displayed.
• Flowers from survivors. Each survivor hands a flower to their caregiver at the end of the Survivor lap. Some Relays ask a florist to donate them; one Relay used a charity that grows flowers for exactly this.
• A seat at the survivor dinner. Caregivers eat with the survivors, not behind them.
• A caregiver speaker. A caregiver's story from the stage is often the moment a Relay remembers. The Global Heroes of Hope include caregivers who tell theirs at Relays around the world.
• A place to rest. The survivor tent is the caregiver tent too. Say so on the sign.

Looking after yourself

Caregivers are often the last to ask for help. Your national cancer organisation runs support lines and counselling for caregivers as well as patients, usually free. The events directory links to yours. And if you want to tell your story, at a Relay or anywhere, the storytelling guide was written for caregivers as much as survivors.

What Relays do for survivors

Relayers share what has worked at their events. The ideas that come up again and again:

• A home base. A tent with shade, chairs, water, snacks, and someone to talk to. Some Relays call it adopting a survivor.
• A meal. A survivor and caregiver lunch or dinner, often donated by a local restaurant, with a short talk or a survivor speaker.
• A visit to the campsites. A punch card or a coupon book that survivors carry around the teams for a free cookie here and a free game there. Teams meet the people they walk for.
• Small pleasures. A one-hour painting class, a chair massage, a caricature artist, a purple rose from the florist, bingo with small prizes, a goody bag. For young survivors, a bag with crayons and a colouring book.
• Letters. A primary-school class writes letters of encouragement, and every survivor takes one home.
• A draw just for survivors, held near the end of the day, so there is a reason to come back for the luminaria.

What survivors ask organisers to remember

Survivors in the Relay groups are honest about this. Fatigue, heat, a rough track, digestion, hydration, and the side effects of treatment are real, and a full day is a lot to ask.

• Plan a two-hour block for survivors rather than a whole day, and print the times so people know what is on.
• Put the survivor tent near the stage and near the toilets.
• Say clearly that leaving and coming back is fine. Tell everyone the luminaria time twice.
• Ask survivors what they want. Some want to be celebrated from a stage. Some want a quiet chair and a friend.
• Sashes are not always worn. Pins, or a pinning moment at the start of the lap, often work better.

Survivorship all year

The people who understand a diagnosis best are the ones who have had one. Relay puts them at the front.