NATCHEZ — Addison Thomas Jr. was diagnosed with colon cancer at 64. His 40-year-old wife, Ima Dunbar-Thomas, was pregnant for the first time.

Today, Thomas is a survivor, and he, his wife and their 4-year-old son celebrated at Friday’s Relay for Life event on the bluff among hundreds of others.

“(Relay for Life) is more than just an outward show for us,” Dunbar-Thomas said. “It means a lot to us, it means miracles can happen.”

It wasn’t always easy, Dunbar-Thomas said, but they always stayed positive.

“Sometimes (my husband) couldn’t hold the baby,” Dunbar-Thomas said. “It was a struggle, but we kept the faith.”

After his seventh or eighth radiation treatment, Addison Thomas was cancer free.

“My husband is a hard prayer and he kept a positive mind,” Dunbar-Thomas said. “If you focus on the solution instead of focusing on the problem, you’ll make it.”

Across the bluff, a group that called themselves Team Metro celebrated paramedic Trenton Pugh’s sister, who survived cancer, with Mardi Gras decorations, beignets and a dummy laying on a stretcher, covered in beads, several feather boas, a mask and a hat.

Terri Wilson was 34 when she found out she had cancer.

Now, the 40-year-old is a six-year breast cancer survivor.

“I was diagnosed in 2005,” she said. “It was pretty devastating, almost surreal. I was just finishing up nursing school.”

Wilson’s mother had also battled breast cancer, and in 2007, her grandmother was diagnosed.

“Death wasn’t an option for me,” Wilson said. “I have two children, a loving husband and lots of living to do.”

For Wilson, participating in Relay for Life is a time to give back to those who supported her during her battle, as well as a time to support those who still suffer from the disease.

“The chemo was rough — I got pretty sick — and radiation wasn’t a picnic either.

“But you do what you have to do to live.”