It will be a walk to remember for Linda and Mark Guillette and the rest of the Bravehearts this coming June 6, the team’s last year participating in the Coaticook Relay for Life. “It’s time to take care of mom and dad,” Linda said. “I think Chrissy would understand.” The journey began in 2004. Mark and Linda’s daughters Karen and Christine (Chrissy) learned that Coaticook was about to hold its first Relay for life event, which coincided with Chrissy’s 10th year in remission from cancer. “They knew nothing about the relay. They had no team or anything, it was just Chrissy and Karen. They walked all night in the rain,” Linda recalled.
The relay takes place from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. as a reminder that cancer never sleeps. In 2005, Karen and Chrissy put a team together and entered the relay again. Chrissy, in good health at the time, thought it would be a great way to pay it forward, Linda explained. The following year, the Bravehearts were officially formed. “We were all brave to walk,” Linda said, explaining that it rained every year for the relay. For the first few years the team was around 10 members, mostly immediately family. After realizing the importance of the relay, which raises money for cancer research, Linda said Chrissy started asking specific people to join the team. “Chrissy hand-picked this bunch of people,” Linda said, adding that most of the original members still walk every year. See full story in the Wednesday, Jan. 29 edition of The Record.
Bravehearts prepare for final relay for life
By Matthew McCully