Community Corner
An Extra Special Birthday for One Attleboro Cancer Survivor
Two relay teams joined together to support Rich DeCoste.
Editor's Note: an earlier version of this story had an error. It has been corrected, and we regret the error.
One year ago Rich Decoste was feeling fine, but suddenly the Attleboro resident was blindsided with an unexpected diagnosis of stage four Colon Cancer.With two small children DeCoste and his wife Suzanne settled in for a long battle.
He had surgery to remove the tumor only to find that it had already spread to his liver. He's undergone chemotherapy and it seems to be working. DeCoste has at least one more month of chemo and then is hoping to become a candidate for liver surgery to remove any remaining cancer."
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The DeCoste's strength to battle the deadly disease comes from the love they have for their children and the support they receive from family, friends and co-workers.
Together, the DeCostes and 34 others, made up the two teams "Get Busy Living" and "Hope is a Good Thing", that participated in the Greater Attleboro Relay for Life, which took place Friday and Saturday. The team names came from quotes from DeCoste's favorite movie, "Shawshank Redemption." The teams also celebrated DeCoste turning 37 by making him the honorary 37th member of the team.
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The two teams received an award at the relay for being the team with the best campsite spirit. They expected to raise $1,800 as a first time relay team instead they raised more than $20,000 between the two teams. All told the Greater Attleboro Relay for Life raised more than $212,000 to support cancer treatments and the possibility of a cure.
