American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Mansfield Fight Back Ceremony Presents Kelley Tuthill

Kelley Tuthill, an award winning reporter, and breast cancer survivor, will be the guest speaker for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Mansfield Fight Back Ceremony, which will held at the end of the event on Saturday, June 18 at 8:30 am.  Tuthill will share her emotional and courageous journey with the dedicated participants of the Relay, just as she shared her story with her viewers.  About the reason to go public with her story, Tuthill says, “I felt strongly that something good needed to come out of this devastating diagnosis.  I also wanted to give people hope that a cancer diagnosis does not mean a death sentence”.

Tuthill also wanted to show the world that “you can fight cancer and work and take care of the kids and be yourself”.  Tuthill herself was a young wife and mother when she got the news that she had cancer.  Her daughters were only two-and-a-half and six months when she was diagnosed, but she continued working and raising her children.  That was made easier by having the support of her parents, sisters, extended family members, and friends, and her husband, Brendan, her “best friend.  He has been with me every step of the way.  I’m so lucky to have him”.

Before getting breast cancer, Tuthill covered many local and national stories for WCVB-TV’s Channel 5, including the Columbia Space Shuttle explosion and the 2000 Presidential recount in Florida.  She won an award for her reporting of the protests at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.  But some of her favorite stories that she has covered have been the sport stories.  She covered the 2002 Super Bowl in New Orleans, and the 2004 Pennant Race between the Red Sox and the Yankees.

“I was in Yankee Stadium the night the Red Sox stunned the world and beat the Yankees in Game Seven," Tuthill said. "That was an amazing night.  I stayed up all night.  I went to the World Series that year too, but it didn’t have the drama of that crazy playoff series with the Yankees”.

Since Tuthill’s  successful treatment, she certainly has not slowed down.  Not only is she still a reporter as a member of Team 5 Investigates, she has won many awards and a regional Emmy for her work covering the many different aspects of cancer.  She was recognized by the Boston Celtics as a “Hero Among Us” in 2008, and was listed as one of Boston Business Journal’s “40 under 40”.  Tuthill has co-hosted the Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon on WCVB since 2000, and is involved with many other charities.  And, she has been involved with the American Cancer Society and the Relay For Life for years, and tries to attend at least one Relay a year.

We are lucky to have her come and speak at the Mansfield Relay this year.  Tuthill will share what she did to “fight back”, including getting a wig to cover her bald head, which the kids in her family were “obsessed with”.  Although her journey wasn’t always easy, sharing her story was worth it.  “I have been deeply touched by the reaction from our viewers and the amazing stories they have shared with me.  It’s been an extraordinary experience”.