- April 24, 2024
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‘Karate kid’ walks with teacher in survivors’ walk.
Wayne Grant
News Editor
Teams at the twelfth annual Relay for Life in Ormond Beach celebrated cancer survivors, remembered those who have been lost, and renewed the commitment to battle the disease on April 18 at Calvary Christian Church, 1687 W. Granada Blvd. Thirty-three teams with 168 participants raised $21,877.67 so far.
The first lap around the track was taken by survivors, including 8-year-old Cameron Fulling, of Palm Coast, who has been fighting brain cancer since he was 2 years old. He has had six surgeries to remove six tumors, as well as chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
But a true survivor, Cameron attended the relay event after playing baseball that morning.
“He got two hits,” said his dad, Dan.
He is in the first grade at Bunnell Elementary School, and also has been able to take karate lessons this past year.
Last year, Cameron received a black belt in karate from Villari’s Martial Arts School, 1930 W. Granada Blvd., in honor of his courageous fight against the disease. He had met David Grabner, school owner, while attending a birthday party at the school, and told Grabner that he wanted to be a “karate kid” but had cancer.
Grabner stayed in contact, and eventually awarded him the black belt to recognize his courage.
“He’s always cheerful,” Grabner said. “He shows maturity.”
Carmeron chose to walk with Grabner, a survivor of throat cancer, in the survivor’s walk.
“The eighteenth of April is also Cameron's birthday and he chose to walk with me on this special day. I feel honored,” Grabner said.
Cameron’s mother, Melisa, said they had recently discovered that he has another tumor, and faces surgery.
“He fought it before, so he’ll fight it again,” she said. “We honestly didn’t know if he would make it to his third birthday and here he is on his eighth birthday.
After the survivor’s walk, there was a caretaker’s walk, and then they had a special dinner in the gymnasium. At that point, the teams started their relay walks until midnight.
Villari’s students participated in the relay, wearing pink belts in recognition of the fight against cancer.
