By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com

Honoring those who have gone up against insurmountable odds and battled cancer, the Crawford County Relay for Life held its Survivors Dinner Tuesday evening at Wynford High School.

In its 14th year, 119 reservations were filled for the dinner, but the night belonged to three people in particular, honorary survivors Sara Sharp of Crestline, Stefanie Rich of Galion and Wyatt Esno of Crestline.

Sara Sharp who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in September of 2013 had symptoms for the disease two years prior to being diagnosed.

“I had been having symptoms for about a year and a half, two years I had been going to doctors and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. I had my doctor refer me to an M.S. specialist because I had symptoms for M.S. I didn’t know at the time until I went to the emergency room a year and a half later that lymphoma symptoms are very similar to M.S.,” Sharp said.

Sharp continued, “So that whole year-and-a-half I had doctors look at me like I was basically making it up, because they couldn’t find anything. If they would have done the C.T. scan of my abdomen that I asked my M.S. doctor to they would have caught it then.”

While the cancer is in remission, Sharp still has to visit the James Center for the next five years to make sure that the cancer doesn’t return.

Stefanie Rich was diagnosed with chondroblastic osteosarcoma after having a tumor removed at the James Center in June of 2013.

To make sure that a tumor wouldn’t return Rich had to go through chemotherapy.

Describing her treatments Rich said, “I had six rounds of chemotherapy. It was inpatient chemo, so I would go down for three weeks, kind of back and forth between those three weeks then I would have two weeks off. So each cycle was five weeks long.”

“I was so sick the chemo made me very, very sick to the point where when I was at home not only where people had to take care not only of my children, but also myself. Simple household tasks became very difficult during my chemo treatments,” Rich continued.

Five-year-old Wyatt Esno and his family wore shirts that read “Wyatt Little Warrior Beating Childhood Cancer.”

Esno has had an uphill battle as he was diagnosed with leukemia in May of 2011, relapsing in April of 2012, and then relapsing again in June of 2013. After the second relapse Esno received a bone marrow transplant from a donor from Germany in October of 2013.

Taking life day to day Esno is living a far from normal childhood.

“We have to watch for germs. Even just a common cold can make him go back in the hospital. It can make him really sick. He can’t play in the dirt, constant hand washing, but he’s getting there,” Esno’s mother Paula Esno explained.

The event was organized by Deb Hilborn, and Patty Clevenger.

“Everybody who can come, join us for the Relay on June 13 and 14 at Wynford High School,” Hilborn said.

“The event runs from Friday at 6 p.m. starting with the Survivors’ Victory Lap through closing ceremonies at noon Saturday,” Hilborn continued. “We will have a 5K, as well as other events and games.”

The Survivors Dinner was catered by Katering. Kountry Style.