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By Laura Kennedy

Story Published: Jul 9, 2010 at 6:09 PM MST

Story Updated: Jul 10, 2010 at 1:32 PM MST

BILLINGS - Two members of the Faith Evangelical relay team are cancer survivors. For these women, this event is a time to reflect and to hope for a cure.

This year the American Cancer Society's Yellowstone Relay For Life theme is "Celebrate More Birthdays." A tribute to living longer by surviving cancer.

Sara Ruff is an eight-year participant in the relay, former team captain, volunteer, and cancer survivor. "I have been a cancer survivor for 27 years. I was diagnosed with Leukemia when I was a high school student here at West High," Ruff said.

She was so inspired by the luminaries shining in the night she decided to come to relay every year. "I'll tell you the first time I came to relay I just came as a survivor, picked up a shirt, and was overwhelmed. I was so in awe that all these people would come out for this cause," Ruff said.

Her teammate Kelly Sharp has felt both the joy of beating cancer and the sorrow of loss to the disease.

"Every survivor is important and we need to celebrate survivors," Sharp said, "I had so much loss. I found out at the same time that my best friend had breast cancer and she didn't survive and I survived so I was embarrassed to be a survivor and now I'm proud to be a survivor."

Truly a community event, 60% of the money raised for the relay goes to programs in Yellowstone County supporting cancer patients.

"We need to bring awareness, we need to bring money to find a cure, and we need the drugs to support it. There are other countries that can't afford the simple drugs that we take every day to survive," Sharp said.

"The thing I like about relay so much is that they really celebrate the survivors. It's something that's really encouraging for people who are currently undergoing treatment to see the number of survivors who are out here," Ruff said.

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