910th Airman walks for breast cancer cure Published Nov. 13, 2012 By TSgt Brenda Cosola 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- The sun shines down upon Tampa, Fla., as residents line the streets equipped with tables of bottled water, candy and stickers. A group of people round the bend up ahead and make their descent toward the awaiting crowd. As the pink-clad mob approaches, the community members clap and cheer. A voice radiates and sends a shiver through the walkers. "Thank you; you are walking because I can't," cries out a woman who wears a bandana that protects her bald head from the harsh sun and a T-shirt that reads "Survivor." As one of the walkers bends down to adjust her sock revealing a bulging blister, a tear falls from her cheek. She cracks a warm smile and nods at the woman as she continues on her journey toward a cure for breast cancer. "These walks are filled with many emotions," said Tech. Sgt. Valerie Smock, public affairs specialist with the 910th Airlift Wing here. "Sometimes you laugh and sometimes you cry." When Smock' s sister suggested they participate in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, she had no idea what it was. After learning that she would have to walk 60 miles in three days, she said she almost passed out. "The Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure is a 60-mile walk to help raise awareness and find a cure for breast cancer," she said. "You start in one location and walk about 20 miles a day and end at camp, where you set up and sleep in a little pink tent. Then you get up the next morning and do it all over again." Smock, also a video broadcaster at AccuWeather in State College, Pa., joined the cause in 2009 and this year traveled to Tampa, Fla., along with her sister and her friend from elementary school. "There are 14 different cities you can choose to walk in but we [team Saving 2nd Base] picked Tampa for a reason," she said. "My sister went to high school with Erin Howarth, a girl that was diagnosed with the advanced stages of breast cancer three years ago. She lived in Florida and she would walk in Tampa. We thought 'what better place to walk?' This past October, Erin lost her battle with breast cancer and she was only 34 years old. At that point, we knew would we not only be walking to find a cure for breast cancer, we would be walking for Erin." Walking in Tampa proved to be a nice change of scenery, said Smock. "After having walked in Cleveland for three years, we thought it would also be nice to try a different city," she said. "The views were beautiful, walking over a half dozen bridges overlooking Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Tampa, and the community support was amazing. When the entire community comes out to support you, clapping and cheering you on ... the tears begin flowing." Smock walked alongside people from all walks of life and said she was surprised to meet so many survivors along the way. "[We] would start walking with someone and strike up a conversation to find out they are a breast cancer survivor," she said. "People travel from all over the country to walk 60 miles for a cure. That's emotional right there. Men and women, young and old walk. There were some people in a wheelchair, others with a walking boot and a few that were pregnant. We all walked together." Although Smock endured some blisters during her journey, they were nothing compared to the pain breast cancer patients endure. "Blisters go away; breast cancer and chemotherapy are so much worse," she said. "When you think of all of these survivors walking you can't help but get choked up." During the last four years, Smock has raised approximately $10,000 and this year, in Tampa, 1,300 walkers and crew raised $2.5 million. "It's amazing," she said. "I get the satisfaction knowing I did something. I appreciate my health and that of my loved ones so much more now. I realize I have nothing to complain about. So what if my knee hurts or I have a blister; I am a healthy woman feeling like I am able to conquer the world. I never want another person to have to be diagnosed with breast cancer. I walk for those people who cannot and because I can."