Family and friends gather to carry on woman’s mission
Published 3:30 pm Wednesday, September 4, 2019
A single ribbon hangs on a light pole at J. Smith Lanier Park to remember Lori Fawbush, who died from ovarian cancer in April 2018. Her friends and family said she used to line the streets from West Point to Valley with teal ribbons to raise awareness for ovarian cancer. -- Dustin Duncan
Friends of Lori Fawbush, who died in April 2018 of ovarian cancer gather each year to place a teal ribbon a light pole at J. Smith Lanier Park in West Point. -- Dustin Duncan
Dick Fawbush, left, and Martha Scott, right, hang a teal ribbon in rememberance of Lori Fawbush, who died from ovarian cancer in April 2018. Her friends and family said she used to line the streets from West Point to Valley with teal ribbons to raise awareness for ovarian cancer. -- Dustin Duncan
WEST POINT — Family and friends gathered in J. Smith Lanier Park Tuesday afternoon to remember a person who fought to raise awareness for ovarian cancer.
Lori Fawbush lost her battle to ovarian cancer in April 2018. Before her death, she and a group of friends would meet in West Point over Labor Day weekend to line the streets with teal ribbons to raise awareness for ovarian cancer.
On Tuesday, Fawbush’s parents, Dick and Dot Fawbush, along with her sister, Jules Fawbush, got together with Lori’s friends, Jenna Brown, Deborah Rearden, Michael Andrews, Lee Parr and Martha Scott to hang a ribbon in her memory.
“We used to line the streets from West Point down to Valley with ribbons each year with teal ribbons for ovarian cancer,” Scott said.
She said although they couldn’t find the big bag of ribbons Fawbush would use to line the poles on Highway 29, they bought a single ribbon to signify the effort.
“We want to remember her and be faithful and continue to bring some awareness to this month,” Brown said.
Rearden said the group typically gets together for lunch and to remember Fawbush.
“I think it’s good that we all get together and remember her and the cause,” Rearden said. “Because there are people and although it may not be the No. 1 cancer, it is certainly important to us and keeping the awareness going.”
Also, she said many people think it won’t happen to them but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t take preventative measures.
“This is also a call for action to go get your screening and annual checkups,” Rearden said. “It is really important.”
According to cancer.org, about 22,530 women will receive a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer in 2019 and about 3,980 women will die from ovarian cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, ovarian cancer ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women, accounting for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. A woman’s risk of getting ovarian cancer during her lifetime is about 1 in 78. Her lifetime chance of dying from ovarian cancer is about 1 in 108, according to the ACS.
Additionally, ovarian cancer mainly develops in older women. About half of the women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer are 63 years or older. It is more common in white women than African-American women.
The ACS reports that the rate at which women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer has been slowly falling over the past 20 years.
