[July 15, 2011] Erie's Relay for Life stretches to Baghdad Tweet Jul 15, 2011 (Erie Times-News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- John Nygaard will run on a treadmill sometime Saturday to honor the memory of his mother-in-law. Treva Anderson died in October, about two years after she was diagnosed with colon cancer. If he were in Erie, Nygaard would be taking part in the Relay for Life at McDowell High School, along with more than 30 other members of his wife's family. But Nygaard, 38, a major in the Air Force, is in Baghdad with the Joint Forces Special Operations Component Command. "Treva meant, and continues to mean, too much to me to simply sit by and do nothing," Nygaard said in an e-mail. "(I) guess my being in Iraq wasn't excuse enough to not participate in some way." Nygaard's wife, Kari, and her family decided in late 2010 to participate in the Relay for Life at McDowell, an annual fundraiser sponsored by the American Cancer Society. This year's event begins Saturday at 9 a.m. at McDowell's Gus Anderson Field. At least one member from each participating team will walk on the school's track for 24 hours. "It was kind of a no-brainer for us to participate," said Kari Nygaard, 35, an Erie native who now lives with her family near Washington, D.C. "If we can help raise awareness or money for research to help even one other family going through this, we want to do it." The only problem was that John Nygaard found out shortly after Anderson's death that he was going to be deployed to Baghdad. His wife contacted the American Cancer Society to see if he could participate long-distance. She was told it would not be a problem. "It's a great idea," said Kelley Spaeder, Relay for Life organizer. "It shows how supportive the family is, that it stretches all the way to Iraq." While John Nygaard's wife and in-laws walk around the McDowell track Saturday and early Sunday morning, he will set aside 30 minutes out of his busy day to do his part for "Team Treva." "I prefer to run outside, but the temperature right now is 120 degrees during the day, so that likely won't work," John Nygaard said. "I will probably just end up running it on the treadmill." He had hoped to transmit images of his run back to his wife's family through the Internet phone service Skype, but he isn't allowed to for security reasons. Still, he said he is thrilled to honor a woman who was more than a mother-in-law to him. "She was one of the most amazing and wonderful women I've ever had the privilege of knowing," John Nygaard said. "The best way I can describe to anyone is that, for some reason and in some inexplicable way, she and I 'just got each other' and understood each other on a very significant level." Anderson must have made an impression on many other people, too. Team Treva has raised nearly $5,300, which is the second-most of any of the local Relay for Life teams. "That's remarkable for a first-year team," Spaeder said. It's a tribute to Anderson, her daughter said. "We had so much support during her illness, and now it's spilling over to this," Kari Nygaard said. "It's just amazing." DAVID BRUCE can be reached at 870-1736 or by e-mail. To see more of the Erie Times-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.GoErie.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Erie Times-News, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]