WINONA LAKE - Hodgkin's disease survivor Jason Slone celebrated overcoming his battle with the disease with more than 1,000 people Thursday night.
Slone was the walk honoree during the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's annual "Light The Night Walk," a 1.7-mile walk in Winona Lake to raise awareness and funds for blood cancer research.
Slone, 30, a Warsaw resident and engineer at Biomet, is in remission from Hodgkin's disease. A pre-walk celebration took place at Rodeheaver Auditorium in Winona Lake where Slone spoke.
Slone was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in 2003.
He originally was diagnosed with having an infected lymph duct, but later was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease at age 26.
His father battled two brain tumors - when Slone was born and when he was 18 years old.
"My father was my role model, the thought of me not making it through my treatments never crossed my mind because I wanted to take measures to get better," Slone said.
In 2004, he finished chemotherapy and was 95 percent cured.
Slone participated in the walk with his wife, Amy, and daughters Brooklyn and Allison, who wore shirts that said "My Daddy Is A Hero, My Daddy Fought The Fight."
The Society's goal is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma.
This year, more than 44 teams participated in the walk and raised $54,000. Last year's walk raised $62,000. The funds raised during the walk benefit blood cancer research done locally.
A slide show gave statistics on blood cancers and showed photos of people in the community who were either blood cancer survivors or passed away from the cancers.
Ben Woodcox, walk chair, said this year's walk went well.
"We had more blood cancer patients participate in this year's walk compared to previous years and this renews the spirit of why we need to continue to raise funds for blood cancers," Woodcox said.
Walkers held red balloons representing supporters and white balloons representing survivors as they walked around Winona Lake. New this year was a gold balloon representing a person who did not survive from blood cancers.
The balloons had lights inside them that could be turned on and off with a switch on the battery pack.
The walkers wore t-shirts with names of blood cancer survivors and held signs with names and photos of friends and family members who have died from blood cancers.
The walk was sponsored by Biomet. Additional sponsors included Beacon Credit Union, Kosciusko Community Hospital, Paragon Medical Inc., DePuy Orthopedics and Zimmer.
