KAILUA-KONA — Every year, Laau Tuata wonders if this is the year he hangs it up.
KAILUA-KONA — Every year, Laau Tuata wonders if this is the year he hangs it up.
Maybe it’s time to move on. Maybe, he thinks, he should pass his job as logistics coordinator for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life Kona to someone else.
But each year it stays just that, a moment of thought, a passing ponderment and his family is there to remind him.
“I think I’m going to resign this year,” Tuata will tell his wife.
“Yeah, right,” she says each time. “You’ve been saying that for how many years?”
And sure as the sun rises, Tuata remains at the helm, helping ACS raise money and promote Relay for Life, the 23rd year the Kailua-Kona father of three and cancer survivor has taken part in the event.
The annual gathering takes place Saturday, July 8 at Old Airport Park in Kailua-Kona. It begins with a 4 p.m. survivor’s dinner and at 5 p.m. survivors will take the first ceremonial lap. They’re still looking for teams to sign up and raise money with every step around the grass track that circles the illuminated luminaria bags inscribed with messages of love to those battling, survived or having succumbed to cancer.
The luminary track, lit up at night, is an image that still gets Tuata emotional, two-plus decades later.
“That’s the most (emotional)” Tuata said of the visual that serves as a reminder of cancer’s unrelenting reach. “I get chicken skin from that.”
In 2016, according to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 1.6 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the United States and 600,000 people died from the disease.
While serious, the event is also full of joy. Around 700 people come together to celebrate surviving, fighting and not letting the disease beat them or dull the memories of loved ones no longer here. Themed, “Betting on a Cure,” this year’s relay brings a little ninth-island, Las Vegas flair participants are encouraged to play up. Live entertainment will sing through the night as team members take laps until 1 a.m. Booths and a silent auction will also be on hand as organizers aim to hit a $100,000 goal.
How much has Tuata — who is part of a group of several volunteers who stage the Relay For Life Kona in concert with the American Cancer Society — helped raise over 23 years? He doesn’t know.
“Sometimes we make the goal,” he said. “Sometimes we don’t.”
And the people he’s met through the event are too many to count, which is bittersweet, too. They are fellow survivors, like Tuata, but reminders of cancer’s reach.
Tuata was diagnosed at the age of 33 in 1994 and triumphed over the disease in his pelvis and bladder after several surgeries over the course of four years. It was right away that Tuata and his family learned of the American Cancer Society, and vowed to support it come what may.
“The American Cancer Society helped me out so much,” Tuata said of ACS, which supported the family financially and flew Tuata to Oahu for treatment during those dark years. “So I’m giving back what they did for me and helping them as much as I can because they were the only ones who stepped in and helped me.”
And that help includes keeping his title as logistics coordinator, at least for one more year. Spreading the word is too important to give up, as is encouraging a positive mindset for those going through the fight, he said, something that helped him persevere.
So he’ll hang on and help out, as he always does. In fact, he’s one of the most recognizable faces down there, people tell him.
“You’re still here?” people ask him each year — a compliment to resiliency, survival if there ever was one.
“Am I supposed to go some place?” he laughs. “Yeah, I’m still here.”
Info or to register: relayforlife.org/konahi or Kaitlin Moore, (828) 493-1134.