MY SISTER'S STORY TOLD IN NEWSPAPER

PORT CHARLOTTE -- It was dawn Saturday when Debra Tindall and her sister, Starr Smith, made their way from the parking lot to Charlotte Sports Park, with teddy bears in tow. "It is going to be a tough day," Smith said.

Both Tindall and Smith had a picture of Donna Sue Smith pinned to their T-shirts. "She was our baby sister," Tindall said. "She would have been 49 on Oct. 2."

Donna Sue Smith died of lung cancer this past August. The pain is still fresh. "This is new to us -- it's only been a few months," Smith said. The teddy bears, the sisters explained, were Donna's. "And this little one was with her all the time, even when she went to chemo."

The sisters were two of many who participated in the Free to Breathe Lung Cancer 5K in a show of support for those fighting the disease, those who have lost a loved one, and to raise awareness for the need for more research and funding.

Tom Cappiello is not only one of the organizers of the event, he is also a lung cancer survivor. After the race, which raised more than $30,000, he addressed the crowd and asked that all lung cancer survivors step forward.

"There are only four of us up here," he said emotionally. "Four."

Later, Cappiello said the statistics are daunting. "In 1971, the survival rate for lung cancer was 14 percent. Forty years later, it is 15 percent. It is the number one cancer killer and it gets the least amount of funding out of all the major cancers."

Cappiello said he thinks lung cancer victims are "stigmatized" because many of them smoked, and there is a bit of an "it's your own fault" attitude in society. "Many quit smoking years ago and still get lung cancer, plus nicotine is more addictive than heroin," he said. "Plus, not everyone who gets lung cancer is a smoker."

Ken Altuchoff, one of the four who stood in front of the crowd, was proof. "I never smoked," he said. "The doctor said it was nothing I did." Altuchoff had surgery in September and is now undergoing chemotherapy.

"We had the help of many sponsors," Cappiello said. The sponsors and donators were: Florida Cancer Specialists, Peace River Regional Medical Center, Murdock Family Medicine, Advanced Imaging, Charlotte Regional Medical Center, Clear Channel, the Sun Newspapers, Mosaic, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Walmart, Staples, Buffalo Graffix and the Charlotte Stone Crabs. The running club Zoomers served as race directors.

"We are still taking (race) donations for Free to Breathe until December," Cappiello said. "You can visit www.freetobreathe.org to donate or learn more about how to get involved."

By cuddles53
Posted November 1, 2009 at 5:09 pm
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I just about cried when I saw that only 4 stood up! it is really heartbreaking that we just don't live long enough to get out there and raise any money for ourselves. Thank god there are so many family members who are out here doing it for us. Thanks you to all of you who participated, for me.
God bless us all.
Sandy

By Marylou1
Posted November 1, 2009 at 5:22 pm
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Thank you for what you have done. Your sister HAS to be very proud of you. Thank you for taking a stand for all of us.

Much Love,
Marylou

By cards7up
Posted November 1, 2009 at 7:13 pm
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Even sadder in 1971 it was 14% and almost 40 years later only 15% survive. That in itself should say something. Thanks for sharing and great job!
Take care, JC

By angel3023
Posted November 1, 2009 at 10:34 pm
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Some of you might know Tom Cappiello the one who organized this walk. He use to be on here as Cancerblog. He writes a weekly journal about his fight with Lung Cancer in the Sun Herald in Port Charlotte, Fl. I met him yesterday at this walk and he is a wonderful man and supporter for the cause. I wish he would come back to inspire but he said he is mad at them. When he tryed to advertise this Lung Cancer 5k walk/run they took his post off. I will keep trying to get him back because we need inspirational stories like his on this site.

By beckylynn
Posted November 2, 2009 at 7:17 am
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Angel you made a difference and your sister was proud of the two of you walking on her behalf.
Glad to see it made the papers!
B :)

By madwife
Posted November 2, 2009 at 8:00 am
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That fact that there ARE so many LC groups is such an improvement over 2005 when my mother died from SCLC. There was no fund raiser in Atlanta and the one in NY was only in its third year. Now look how much attention it is getting - even a LC Awareness Month - November. Put Cafe Press in your search and see how many LC fund raises private individuals have started. Wings of Hope on Cafe Press is our fund raiser. When we started thee were just 3 sites, now look at it. We are bring this disease to public attention after years of the blame/shame syndrome. I say -look at the old movies and the military during WWII - smoking was glamorized and smokes were given to GIs.

It is not the victims who are to blame when a known carcinogen with added addictive ingredients is supported by federal subsidies. Now for all the younger smokers - get yourself to a well qualified psychologist who used hypnosis because it works.

Welcome to Inspire!

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