In October of 1994, Jennifer Klute, 25, was at a California hospital seeking prenatal care when her bloodwork came back as questionable.

When her doctor did more bloodwork, Klute discovered her white blood cell count was 56,000, when a normal count is only 4,000 to 10,000. Her doctor sent her to a blood specialist, who told her right away she had leukemia.

Klute, now an ISU senior in elementary education, was 20 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed. She was told she couldn’t have chemotherapy and be pregnant at the same time. She was faced with a difficult decision.

“By law in California, you can’t terminate a pregnancy once it is past 24 weeks,” Klute said. “So, I had to make my decision fast.”

Klute said she felt she had no choice but to terminate her pregnancy.

“I had to go through all that before I even started treatment,” she said. “Terminating the pregnancy was the worst part of the whole thing for me.”

Because of her age, Klute was a prime candidate for a bone-marrow transplant. She has seven brothers and sisters, and her sister Janie turned out to be a perfect match. In April 1995, Klute had her transplant.

After the transplant, Klute was in and out of the hospital for 5 months. Her mother stayed with her the whole time as she battled pneumonia and struggled with radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

“My mom and I never doubted that I would survive. It was all God; I think He really gave us that peace,” she said. “Sure, there were low times, and times that I did want to die. There was a lot of pain, but I never gave up. God helped me through it.”

Relay for Life, a fund-raiser to help fight cancer, will be held from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Lied Recreation Center.

Joseph Rees, event coordinator for Relay for Life and senior in finance, said he anticipates a successful event this year.

“When this event started in Ames several years ago, we had about 20 teams participating,” he said. “This year, we have 90 teams registered.”

Rees said Relay for Life began with one man.

In May 1985, Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon and avid runner, walked and ran for 24 hours straight around a track in Tacoma, Wash. He clocked 83 miles and raised $27,000 to support for the American Cancer Society. The following year, more than 220 people on 19 teams joined Klatt in his effort to fight cancer, and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life was born.

Rees said Relay for Life has grown considerably since then.

“The event became national and even global,” he said. “It really supports a great cause and has become the premiere fund-raising event for the American Cancer Society.”

Rees said there is also a special team called Peggy’s Team, in honor of former ISU runner Peggy Neppel-Darrah, who died of cancer.

Rees said the goal of the Relay for Life central committee is to raise $100,00 this year.

“We did this a couple years ago and haven’t gotten back up to [this amount] since,” he said. “I think with the number of people we have this year it’s very possible.”

Klute will be celebrating nine years of remission in April. She is an honorary chair of Relay for Life this year.

“No matter how little you can help out, giving of your time helps us create survivors,” she said. “Volunteer for a half hour, or light a luminary for someone you know who has been touched by cancer. No matter how little you think it might be, it helps. There are a higher percentage of survivors every year. The more money we raise during Relay for Life, the more survivors we will continue to create.”