The ground was still soggy from heavy rains for Sunday’s Light the Night Walk at the Panther Island Pavilion in Fort Worth, where nearly 4,000 people gathered to raise awareness of blood cancers, and raise money for research and patient care.
“It gets bigger every year, this year we had to move it because we were getting too big for West 7th,” said Patricia Thomson, executive director of the North Texas Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Ann Marie Herbst, of Fort Worth, was among the survivors who took part, now cancer free since June.
“You have a lot of hard days going through this and when you can do good and give back and celebrate it makes it all worth it,” said Herbst.
“This is a date we circled, and we’re here,” said her husband, Jay Herbst, “And it’s pretty emotional, but amazing.”
“We do want to find a cure one day, we really do,” said Thomson.
Fort Worth Congresswoman Kay Granger attended the event to lend her support just days before this week’s big vote in Congress to elect the next House Speaker.
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“We’ve never had to talk anyone into it, it’s always been someone who wanted the job,” said Rep. Granger, a Republican.
Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin will get her vote, and she was among those who urged him to run.
“I think now we will rally around Paul,” said Granger, “He’s a conservative, absolute, but he’s a reasonable person.”
But Granger is still deciding who to support in the republican presidential race.
“I think we need someone whose ready to walk in on day one and understand what he’s into,” said Granger.
NBC DFW is a sponsor of the Light the Night event.