They fought for ovarian cancer awareness. Now the cable bridge will be lit in their honor.

The cable bridge will once again be lit up in teal for ovarian cancer awareness.

This year, the lighting is in memory of two local women — Kay Kerbyson and Karla Schliep — who raised their voices to help others even as they fought their own difficult battles with the disease.

“They were important advocates for ovarian cancer awareness in our community,” said Elizabeth McLaughlin, director of the Tri-Cities Cancer Center Foundation.

“It’s our honor to be able to continue this (bridge lighting tradition) for the community,” she said.

The bridge, which spans the Columbia River, will be lit throughout the month of September. A lighting ceremony starts at 7 p.m. Thursday at Clover Island Inn in Kennewick.

The names of all the survivors present and of loved ones lost to the disease will be read. To add a name, email aracellyg@tccancer.org.

Teal is the color associated with ovarian cancer awareness, and September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Kerbyson, who started the advocacy and support group Ovarian Cancer Together, spearheaded the effort to light up the bridge, hoping it would grab attention and inspire more women to learn about ovarian cancer.

“To reach so many women — it’s a dream come true,” Kerbyson told the Herald in 2013, the first year of the bridge lighting.

The following year, as the bridge once again was set to be awash in teal, she talked of how “awareness is the cure” for ovarian cancer at the moment.

“That’s why we need to get this awareness out; that’s why we need women to know the symptoms, to get diagnosed early,” she told the Herald.

Kerbyson died last October, a decade after being diagnosed.

Schliep, a friend and Ovarian Cancer Together board member, died about one-and-a-half weeks later.

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecologic cancer. About 22,440 women in the U.S. will be newly diagnosed this year and about 14,080 women will die from the disease, the American Cancer Society estimates.

The five-year survival rate is high with early diagnosis, but in many cases, the cancer isn’t detected until more advanced stages.

The Tri-Cities Cancer Center and Ovarian Cancer Together are partnering for this year’s bridge lighting.

McLaughlin said it’s a meaningful tribute to Kerbyson and Schliep.

“Hopefully everyone will see the cable bridge throughout the month and think about the good work being done in the community for ovarian cancer awareness,” she said.

The foundation also has teal ribbons that can be hung on trees in the community to further spread awareness. Stop by the foundation during business hours to pick them up.

This story was originally published August 30, 2017 at 4:50 PM with the headline "They fought for ovarian cancer awareness. Now the cable bridge will be lit in their honor.."