Inspiring Story of Courage and Community

The Carlsbad Relay for Life was founded by Dave Mann and his wife Jodi. Their story is truly inspiring. I asked Dave to share a bit about his history with Relay for Life, his battles with cancer, and why he brought Relay for Life to the local Carlsbad community nearly 8 years ago: 

1. What and when was your first experience with Relay For Life?

My family and my company signed up for the La Jolla Relay for Life event in 2003 in order to support one of our La Jolla customers, Stacy Matseas, who was very active in the La Jolla Relay as a Qualcomm employee and team leader. I was eight months removed from my last chemo treatment and was looking for a way to give back. La Jolla was an amazing Relay and definitely showed us the model for what we set out to achieve in Carlsbad.

2. What inspired you to start Relay for Life of Carlsbad? 

After attending 2004 and 2005 in La Jolla, it dawned on all of us that Carlsbad needed a community centric/driven event and Relay would be a great fit on multiple levels. The ACS staff partner at the time, Katie, our ACS staff partner asked my wife during the event if she would be interested in volunteering for Relay. She gave our contact information and later that fall, Katie, Alison Rodiek and myself met each other for the first time at La Costa Roasting Company to see if we had enough interest and energy to start the first Carlsbad Relay for Life.

3. When was the first event? Describe it (number of people, fundraising achievements, etc). 

Like it was yesterday; it was Alison, Jodi, the Patriot Roofing team and myself who handled all of the committee roles along with Katie from ACS. Most teams stayed up all night to keep someone on the track for 24 hours. One member of Alison’s team ran/walked the entire night...I think he actually completed a marathon during the event. We had one guy and his bbq make all the food and he took donations to feed us after which he donated 100% of the proceeds to our event. We were at the Carlsbad High School football field(before remodel and Nike turf) with 12 teams, 18 tents, maybe 50-75 people over 24 hours,19k was raised, it was an amazing experience and completely different than what we know and see today.

4. As a cancer survivor, you have a real connection to Relay and the great work it supports. Tell me about your fight against cancer and where you are today. 

My cancer story started at 12 when our best family friends two year old, Jake, died of Leukemia. He was the same age as my brother and they had played together just a year earlier. I held him in my arms right before he died in the children’s hospital ward at CHOC in Orange County. That experience changed and scared me forever!! When my best friend’s brother, Stevie, died of bone cancer at the age of 18 when I was 14, it rocked me again and kept me on the path of being terrified of this disease. My mom, Joyce, was diagnosed with breast cancer two years later and then it really hit home. She was fine and has made a full recovery but I operated from fear based on my experiences. The last experience was when and I was 22 and before being diagnosed myself. I lived through my 32 year old stepsister with two young kids and a husband be diagnosed with breast cancer and fight valiantly only to succumb in the prime of her life. My entire family was altered forever and it felt incredibly unfair at that time. That was in the fall of 1992 and by 1994, I was facing this unbelievable disease myself. My parents were understandably in a state of shock as our cancer journey was never ending. Since my first diagnosis of Hodgkin’s disease in 1994 to my second of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2002, I have thanked God every day of my life that I was unbelievably lucky to survive not once, but twice. I can’t quit, I owe it to those who weren’t as lucky as I was to pay it forward and leverage my life with cancer to help others facing the similar fears. I’ve learned through all of this that cancer isn’t fair, but how we react after hearing that you have cancer is all that matters. I’ve been blessed and am grateful!

5. You've dealt with cancer beyond your own fight. Tell me why you Relay and who else you Relay for. 

One out of two men and one out of three women in the United States have a similar story to mine. The sad truth is that so many of our own family and friends will also face this disease head on in our/their lifetimes. I have personally lost close family members and friends and specifically have met multiple people from Relay who have both triumphed and lost their battles. Specifically Michele Butler, 14 years old and Chase Quarteroni, 16 years old were both Carlsbad High teens who we met at the Carlsbad Relay for Life. We got to know them and their families and experienced firsthand their tragic and untimely loss to Cancer. I have more reasons to Relay than I wish I had and along with my family, we will never quit until we conquer this terrible disease!!!

6. Anything else?!

Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart to those of you who have taken our baby relay in 2006 to where we have all ended up now in 2014. Thank you especially to Jeff Maulden and Dave Mills, proud leaders who didn’t wait to be asked but instead took their own life experiences of losing loved ones to Cancer and stepped up to lead. Carlsbad Relay for Life is in great hands and Jodi and I could not be more proud or feel more loved than we do as a result of all of your efforts.

Fight on and Beat Cancer!!!

Gratefully and humbly,

Dave Mann

Get involved today!: RelayForLife.org/CarlsbadCA.