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Updated 07/04/2012 05:41 PM

Hundreds participate in Teal There's a Cure

There was red, white, blue and teal in Marcellus this Fourth of July. As our Kat De Maria tells us, the Teal There's a Cure run and walk is part of a growing effort to educate women about deadly ovarian cancer and give them support to fight it.

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MARCELLUS, N.Y. -- Their journeys are unique. But a lot of the stories of survivors of ovarian cancer start the same way.

"I was having issues and I stopped eating and I had stomach cramps and things like that," said Lynne Heaviside.

"She was feeling bloated and went to the doctor," said Kevin O'Hara, whose sister, Maureen, has ovarian cancer.

Maureen O'Hara started the Teal There's a Cure run and walk in Marcellus after she was diagnosed four years ago. At the time, there were no such events in the Syracuse area. Now, hundreds gather every July fourth as a stop along their journey, like the team "For the Love of Sherry."

"It's a tough day and yet it's a great day in remembrance of my wife, Sherry Edick," Robert Edick said.

...or runners, including one who is battling his own blood cancer.

"Just the fact that I can relate to and understand what they're going through with chemotherapy, because I’ll be getting it tomorrow again," said Ron Gay, who is also an operating room nurse.

Nearly 700 people came out this year for Teal There's a Cure. And that means more money raised and, most importantly, more awareness.

"Most women, if they have ovarian cancer, they're diagnosed in stage three or four and that decreases their survival rate to 29 percent," Kevin O'Hara said.

Maureen O'Hara was diagnosed in stage three. So were Sherry Edick and Lynne Heaviside and other women in a support group called Grace's Garden, who cast their own comfort aside to make a big teal presence.

"We hear a lot about breast cancer. And they've done a wonderful job collecting money for breast cancer. But there are other types of cancer that are not that well-funded and well-known," Heaviside said.

Ovarian cancer is sneaky and deadly. And through events like Teal There's a Cure, survivors and others are hoping their and other women's stories will end in survival.

The O'Hara family holds the "Teal There's a Cure" walk on the fourth of July because Maureen was a Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserves.

For more about Maureen's support group or ovarian cancer, log on to gracesgarden.org.