That was the mantra and battle cry of Tammy McCalpin’s friends and family as she faced down colon cancer.

In January 2019 at the age of 53, Tammy started feeling sick and ended up visiting the North Mississippi Medical Center Emergency Department.

In short order, she had a colonoscopy and then surgery, and was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer.

She had her first chemo treatment on March 1, the first day of Colon Cancer Awareness Month. Run for Your Buns was held later that month. Tammy wasn’t up to participating, so she sat nearby at her office at Mitchell, McNutt & Sams while a huge group of her family and friends participated in the event in her honor.

She had her last chemo appointment that May. Her post-treatment PET scan came back all clear, and she was able to victoriously ring the bell at NMMC Cancer Care, signaling the end of her cancer treatment.

At the beginning of her cancer journey in January 2019, Tammy says she felt tremendous peace.

“Right before surgery, my surgeon’s wife called him and said she didn’t know who he was about to operate on, but that they had stopped and prayed for her at church after a friend requested prayer,” she says. “The love and support that I felt from my community, my church, my family and friends was incredible. I think there was half of Red Bay (her hometown) in the waiting room.”

Almost immediately after her diagnosis, her sister’s children ordered blue bracelets for them with “Fight Hard. Pray Harder” on one side, and “God’s got this,” on the other.

“By the time I got home, there were a ton of people wearing them,” she says. “I can’t tell you how important it was for me to have this much support from people I love.”

In 2022, she walked the whole 3.1 mile Run for Your Buns course. Her sisters and other loved ones still wear their bracelets to remind them of her journey, and they all plan to walk the event again this year.

Run for Your Buns will be held at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, April 1, at Fairpark in Downtown Tupelo. To register, visit www.runsignup.com.