JIM Boatswain would not be alive to see his grandchildren grow up if it was not for fund-raising and awareness raising events like the Shoalhaven Nowra Relay for Life.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The prostate cancer survivor, who has five grandchildren, said the Relay for Life helped him and many others beat cancer.
“You see all those cancer survivors at the relay and 80 per cent of those people would be gone without the advances in research,” he said.
“The line of survivors at the relay gets longer and longer.”
He said the news the local relay’s overall fund-raising tally had just passed $2 million was great.
The Nowra resident and his wife Jenny are long-term relay supporters who have only missed one event since 2004.
“The relay is a vital community event,” he said.
The first lap, dedicated to the survivors, is one of his favourite relay moments.
Mrs Boatswain finds the Ceremony of Hope touching and emotional.
The Boatswains have been involved in the relay since it started in 2004 – the year Mr Boatswain was diagnosed with prostate cancer.