Most people don’t know that today, 427 people in this country will die from lung cancer; the number one cancer killer that claims more lives annually than breast, colon, prostate and pancreatic cancers — combined.
I know all the statistics because lung cancer has touched my life.
In 2012, I lost my oldest and best friend Dave to lung cancer. He was a week shy of turning fifty.
And in that same year, the unthinkable happened. I lost my loving wife Gail to lung cancer as well. She was just forty-seven years old.
Both Dave and Gail deserved a better chance to survive, but not enough has changed for lung cancer — mostly because of an unjust stigma that surrounds this disease and a lack of survivors.
I want to see others have a fighting chance. A better chance than Gail had. A better chance than Dave had. They both died far too young and far too quickly. It was less than a year for both of them from diagnosis to death.
This is why on September 27 and 28, I will be joining survivors and advocates from all over the country in Washington DC for the 2017 National Advocacy Summit hosted by Lung Cancer Alliance. We’ll voice the needs of our community to Members of Congress with requests for increased research funding and continued access to quality care.
I’m taking my voice to Capitol Hill, but together we can make a difference in our community as well. If lung cancer has touched the lives of those you are reporting to, we need ask them to tell other people about it so they can get a better understanding of how it feels and how it impacts the lives of neighbors, friends and family. By sharing our personal stories, we can finally get a conversation going about a devastating cancer that continues to fly under the radar — lacking awareness and research funding. We need all the help we can get in order to finally win the battle against this disease.
Scott Reid
Metuchen