ARLINGTON — For Gayle Yunker, the fight against cancer is intensely personal.

When the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life in Arlington moved from the John C. Larson Stadium to Legion Park June 4, Yunker was among the survivors and caregivers who braved the sweltering heat to make a circuit of Centennial Trail around the gazebo, after she’d shared her story.

Yunker’s father was diagnosed with oral cancer in 1972, as he was transitioning from a military to a civilian career. It was that diagnosis that cost him what would have been his first job after leaving the service.

When Yunker’s father was conducting his final interview for the job, he admitted to being diagnosed with cancer, and his interviewer literally jumped out of his seat, “so suddenly the chair fell on the floor. He snatched the paperwork out of my father’s hands. Back then, people actually thought you could get cancer from someone by being in the same room as them.”

Not only did Yunker’s father not get the job, but “it was one of only two times in my life that I heard him cry, because he couldn’t support his family.”

Although Yunker’s father endured surgery that required bones from his ribs to be grafted onto his face, to replace what he lost to cancer, he did find another employer, and remained loyal to them for hiring him in his time of need.

Also, when Yunker’s mother was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 1991, “she put up a good fight, lasting a year and a half when they’d given her six months,” but just as importantly, she had many more resources thanks to the ACS.

Yunker cited the rides to treatment provided by the ACS’s “Road To Recovery” program, as well as the cosmetics and other products available from its “Look Good, Feel Better” program, to bolster patients’ self-images.

When Yunker herself was diagnosed with kidney cancer 11 years ago, she confessed, “I was more scared of the chemo and radiation,” but thanks to further advances in treatment, she managed to avoid chemo altogether.

While the Arlington Relay continues to add up its donations from this year’s event, those who wish to learn more about the programs that the money supports can visit www.cancer.org.