KAILUA-KONA — Frank Sayre and Laura Mallery-Sayre are known on the Big Island for helping save lives through the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation.
A lesser-known fact about them is they are survivors themselves, of melanoma skin cancer.
The two received the Courage Award on Dec. 11 during the annual Hawaii Comprehensive Cancer Coalition Summit at the Grand Naniloa Hotel in Hilo. The award honors cancer survivors who have made great contributions to their community.
“You’re humbled when you receive an award like this because there’s so many people that you feel are more deserving than yourself,” Mallery-Sayre said. “It’s very wonderful to have the acknowledgment. It’s something we will cherish forever.”
“The Hawaii Comprehensive Cancer Coalition is honored to present the Courage Award to the Sayres,” said coalition chairwoman Brenda Hernandez. “As cancer survivors, they have displayed incredible generosity and compassion in their outstanding contributions to the community through the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation. We are truly humbled to honor them.”
Mallery-Sayre was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer in 2010, six months after her husband, Frank, was diagnosed with the same disease.
The two went to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu to have the skin cancer surgically removed after an early detection via biopsy by Kailua-Kona dermatologist Dr. Monica Scheel. Mallery-Sayre credits Scheel and Queen’s oncologist Dr. Shane Morita with saving the couple’s lives.
“At this stage, we’re survivors. You never know with melanoma,” Mallery-Sayre said. “If we didn’t get the death sentence, we got the life sentence. It can always come back. We have to be vigilant now about being pre-checked.”
Mallery-Sayre said the Hawaii Comprehensive Cancer Coalition is an integral part of helping cure cancer in patients throughout the state.
“We have an amazing coalition of cancer oncologists and physicians and educators that are working hand-in-hand to make a difference in people’s lives and the rate of cancer, particularly here on the Big Island,” she said.
The Sayres founded the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation in honor of their 25-year-old son, who died in 1997 while hiking through Pololu Valley. The two wanted to honor the firefighters who risked their lives to find Daniel, and through the years, the foundation has gathered donations of more than $1 million, which are used to purchase rescue equipment required by the fire department.
“What Frank and I are doing with the Daniel Sayre Foundation, it’s very rewarding … ,” Mallery-Sayre said. “And to be allowed the time to continue to do this by being diagnosed in the very early stages of our skin cancer and have it successfully removed, so that we continue to serve out community through the foundation, is just huge for us.”
Email Elizabeth Pitts at epitts@westhawaiitoday.com.
