Gardendale woman named Relay For Life chairperson

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September 13, 2012

Gardendale woman named Relay For Life chairperson

By Melanie Patterson North Jefferson News The North Jefferson News Thu Sep 13, 2012, 11:44 AM CDT

GARDENDALE — Jill Montgomery was in a tanning bed on Valentine’s Day when she first felt the knot on her chest that turned out to be breast cancer.

Seven months later, after six rounds of chemotherapy, Montgomery is cancer-free.

But the fight against cancer is not behind her. Montgomery battles on as an activist. She was selected as the chairperson for the 2013 North Jefferson Relay For Life, which is an American Cancer Society event that raises funds for cancer research.

Montgomery said she wants to see Relay For Life be more like it used to be in north Jefferson, when more people participated.

“The community really stood still for it,” she said. “I know there are a lot of events in the area, but this is one thing in the community that people came together for.”

The North Jefferson Relay For Life has raised thousands of dollars in the past few years for the American Cancer Society, but the 2012 event was the first time in several years that the event made its fund-raising goal.

During the 2012 North Jefferson Relay for Life event, Montgomery’s team, Team Jill, raised $1,800, mostly through the sale of T-shirts.

Montgomery said she had little to do with the fund-raising, because she was enduring chemotherapy treatments, which made her sick.

However, it was her daughters’ friends at Gardendale High School that rallied to make the shirts and sell them. She said hundreds of the students helped, especially Adam Yager, and they also encouraged her every day through Facebook and text messages.

She said she would not have made it without her family: Husband Frank Montgomery and daughters Anna, 18, and Emily, 15.

When she was not sure that she wanted to continue the chemotherapy treatments that “pulled the rug out from under me,” it was her family that kept her going.

“They’ve been amazing. I couldn’t have made it one whole day without any of them,” she said.

In addition to having another fund-raising team for next year’s Relay For Life, Montgomery wants to raise awareness.

“Early detection literally saved my life,” Montgomery said. She encourages women and men to “know your body ... don’t rely just on exams. Be proactive every month.”

Montgomery had an aggressive tumor that was in stage one when she found it, but would have been in stage four if she had waited until her next regular check-up.

“I just feel like God allowed me to find it,” she said. “I have a lot more living to do.”

Montgomery also encourages people to get involved with Relay For Life.

“Everybody has been affected by cancer or know someone who has. Go ahead and raise money for what might happen down the road to you or your family.”

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Gardendale woman named Relay For Life chairperson

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