100 Gather in Rain for Cancer Survivors Butterfly Release

When rain started falling Sunday at Snowden Grove Park in Southaven, Mississippi, cancer survivor Ashleigh Parker wasn't about to cancel the celebration. Nearly 100 people had gathered for DeSoto Hope's annual Cancer Survivors Day butterfly release, and a little weather wasn't going to stop them.

"We all know that sometimes you have to be flexible," Parker told the crowd. They'd simply release the butterflies under the trees where it stayed dry.

The gathering brought together cancer survivors, their families, caregivers, and volunteers at the June Wheeler Memorial Hummingbird Garden. One survivor, Christy McCollough, took the microphone to share her journey from a 2016 esophageal cancer diagnosis to nine and a half years cancer free.

"When the doctor said you have esophageal cancer, that was it for me," McCollough admitted. But her husband told her she'd already beaten it, and he was right.

McCollough's words resonated with everyone present. "Cancer may have taken our hair, our energy, our schedules, and for some of us, even the ability to remember why we walked into a room," she said, "but it did not take our faith, our spirit or our purpose."

She reminded survivors they are more than their diagnoses. They're parents, spouses, professionals, dreamers, grandparents, and fighters who prove that difficult chapters aren't the end of the story.

Why This Inspires

DeSoto Hope co-founder Tracy Gallagher used the moment to recognize an often-forgotten group: caregivers. "Caregivers are the unsung heroes, the ones quietly waiting in doctors' offices and helping people at home," she said.

Gallagher, a triple-negative breast cancer survivor marking seven years since completing chemotherapy, also announced a major milestone. DeSoto Hope has now delivered 3,000 Hope Baskets to DeSoto County residents facing cancer.

The all-volunteer organization keeps every dollar raised local. They provide Hope Baskets filled with needed items, $500 travel grants for patients seeking second opinions or clinical trials, and scholarships for graduating seniors from families affected by cancer. This year alone, they awarded three scholarships.

Parker, a stage 4 colorectal cancer survivor, helped found the organization on a simple belief: everyone who receives a cancer diagnosis, no matter where they are in their journey, is a survivor worth celebrating.

As McCollough told the rain-soaked crowd, "We didn't come this far just to survive, we came this far to live."