Spotlight: Lois Green

[NikoleV]

Spotlight: Lois Green

November 9th, 2012 - by admin

http://blog.lungevity.org/2012/11/09/sp ... ois-green/

Lois Green of East Greenbush, New York went to NYC to participate in the ING NYC Marathon for all the right reasons. She and her team trained hard and fundraised non-stop to get to the marathon and to represent their charity, Labrecque- LUNGevity’s Run As One partnership. She wanted to test her endurance as an athlete and she wanted to run the marathon in honor and in memory of those who couldn’t.

But after super storm Sandy hit the north east, the marathon was cancelled. Instead of joining protests or voicing angry words about the time and money lost with the last minute cancellation of the NYC Marathon, Lois and her supporters shifted their gears.

They donated batteries, wipes and diapers of all sizes for victims of the storm with small children. They brought bags of clean and gently used clothes to those in need and they scoured for opportunities to be useful and make a difference.

But it was hard for Lois and her team not to feel disappointed that the marathon was ultimately cancelled at the last minute.

Lois Green of “Team Green” knows something about disappointment. At a routine checkup for asthma, the runner and never-smoker was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was a shock, but Lois didn’t let that diagnosis and subsequent surgery stop her. She continued to run and train and participate in marathons for great causes. Today, she uses her story and survivorship to raise awareness about the disease and advocate for LUNGevity, the largest lung cancer nonprofit in the nation.

Lois also participates in LUNGevity’s Hope Summit, an annual summit in May specifically for lung cancer survivors. When the opportunity became available for Lois to join Team LUNGevity in this year’s NYC Marathon, she immediately signed up and began fundraising with the help and support of her family and friends.

When Lois got home, she was heartbroken to learn about the passing of her friend and fellow lung cancer fighter, Susan Gamble. Another friend, Sara R., just went into hospice care. The three ladies had met during Hope Summit and as survivors of lung cancer they all shared a passion for advocacy and raising awareness about the disease.

“It’s important to share our stories and work to raise awareness about this disease that claims so many lives. Lung cancer isn’t a smoker’s disease. Susan, Sara and I never smoked in our lives. Lung cancer is everyone’s disease. Anyone with lungs can get it and everyone deserves a chance to survive it. There’s no early detection test for lung cancer. Most people are diagnosed in the latest stages of the disease. We need to fund more research so that there will be more treatment options and more survivors -so people like Susan and Sara and so many others won’t run out of time.”

Lois Green and her running team have raised almost $10,000 for LUNGevity, and they’re not done yet. http://events.lungevity.org/site/TR/201 ... fr_id=3520