Staff photo / Hailey Rogenski Timothy Rutledge, 55, paints at a Cancer Survivor Celebration at the Jewish Community Center on Friday. Rutledge is battling pancreatic cancer. The event was hosted by Mercy Health-Youngstown.

YOUNGSTOWN — Mercy Health-Youngstown celebrated cancer survivors by hosting an event for them at the Jewish Community Center on Friday.

The event featured food, raffle baskets and comedic magician Eric Thompson, owner of Sattoli Carpet in downtown Warren.

Christine Smoot, the regional nurse manager of oncology and a member of the event’s organizing committee, said they hosted this event last year at Eastwood Field.

“Sunday is National Survivorship Day — our patients are absolutely amazing,” she said. “They have the fight of their life, no one likes this disease and they deserve to be celebrated. Our staff are always looking for things to do to make their lives the best they possibly can and this is a way we could do that.”

She said the event is paid for by the Mercy Health Foundation.

Timothy Rutledge, 55, is struggling with pancreatic cancer and said God is helping him get through it.

“It’s great to be able to surround myself around people like this (with cancer),” he said. “At first it (cancer) was overwhelming, now it’s just like a daily process. I get baptized on Sunday, so I’m just going to let God lead my way.”

Angela Housteau, 58, said she has stage three esophageal cancer, but her last PET scan and biopsy showed that the tumors were gone and there was no sign of malignancy.”

She said she has gotten through it thanks to a great support system, including her friend Lisa Carnahan, who attended the event with her and who she said is more like a sister.

Michele Kubicina, 74, said the cancer survivor celebration meant “coming together with people that have been through the same experiences that I’ve gone through before. Also, it is sharing laughter.”

“Once you get something like that, it becomes a part of you and that’s what you have to deal with day by day,” she said.

Mercy Health registered nurses Emily Perry, Beth Donegan and financial navigator Shelly Vakasy, who work in the oncology department, all experienced their co-worker Cheryl’s struggles through cancer.

“We get very close with our patients. A lot of times they come in and they don’t just want to talk about how sick they are — they want to talk about their family and their pets and their vacations and the fun part of their lives so we kind of feel like part of their family,” Donegan said. “So, when Cheryl was sick and we started taking care of her it was just that much deeper of a connection with her because we know her, we know her family already and we know what struggles she’s already been through.”

Vakasy said she sees Cheryl as a hero.

“I look at her and she’s an awesome person, and we’re very blessed to have her on our team,” she said.