Friends, family and supporters of cancer survivors came out in full force on 5 July for the Sunflower Fund’s fun run held at Brightwater Commons.
Fitness enthusiasts braced themselves for an 8km run, while the lesser enthused supporters could opt for a brisk 5km walk.
The event aimed to raise money for the fund, whose sole purpose is to pay for the tissue typing of potential bone marrow stem cell donors for inclusion on the South African Bone Marrow Registry. The more donors on the registry, the more hope leukaemia patients have of finding their life-saving donor match.
“All the runners proudly wore their sunflower bandanas in solidarity of people living with leukaemia, those who have gone through stem cell transplants, and also those waiting to find donor matches,” said event organiser, Ingrid Krul. “The funds risen will go toward tissue typing tests, which generally costs around R2 000 per test.”
Supporters also united by placing hand prints onto a 50m roll of material, in order to show compassion and give hope to sufferers and their loved ones while listening to the sounds of local band The Rubber Ducs.
Official winner of the run was local fitness consultant and Comrades Marathon silver medallist, Tumelo Mosia.
