Survivors honored at Griz game

MISSOULA — A pre-game ceremony at the University of Montana Grizzly football game on Oct. 9 in Missoula honored more than 15 breast cancer survivors from the Polson area. Last year, Polson’s Terri Haynal, an 8-year breast cancer survivor, participated in the event’s inaugural year with about four to five other women.

“This year they decided to involve more women and do the human ribbon, so they emailed me,” she said. “It was so awesome — it was just really cool and it was very emotional for everybody to be with so many other breast cancer survivors. The fans were so responsive and even the opposing team was giving us high-fives. It was really an inspiring experience all the way around.”

Haynal spread the word through her local cancer support group, sponsored by Cheerful Heart, which meets every Monday in town.

“We started rallying with our group first,” Haynal said. “The rest was just kind of word of mouth. We called around and it was a chain reaction.”

The group turned two years old in August, said Jane Bronson, a 5.5-year survivor who also participated in the Griz game event.

“We share with them and they learn from us,” Bronson said. “There were 15 from Polson and they told us we were the rowdiest bunch.”

Bronson, who went to school at the U of M, said the atmosphere in the arena was something she had never experienced before, even at the Relay for Life.

“The energy was so loving,” she said. “We all knew why we were there. We all knew that we were survivors. It makes you humble and thankful. It was almost more than you could take in.”

Of the 150-plus women who walked onto the field, Haynal said she was most impacted by one 92-year-old 47-year-survivor and the strong participation from the local women who made the trip to Missoula for the event. The large amount of young women, age 30 through 50, surprised her too.

“When I first heard I had cancer, I was reading about times of trouble and spiritual things. But, after I was diagnosed, it shifted from ‘me’ to the support you get from the other people that are coming behind you and the ones that have come before you,” she said.

Helping others in their time of trouble actually helped her get through her own.

“It’s amazing that we’ve all been through that,” Haynal said. “There were some women that were still going through it.”

For Bronson, events like the Griz game help to keep her aware of her difficult battle with breast cancer.

“I’m a 5.5-year survivor and it feels like yesterday most of the time,” she said.

Five-year survivor Tammy Walston, of Ronan, who co-started the support group alongside Haynal, said it was a heartwarming experience.

“There are a lot of survivors out there,” she said. “It gives us all hope.”