Walking for a wonderful cause
Published on June 1st, 2005
With nearly two-decades of medical experience under her belt, her overwhelming passion to eradicate the disease led to the abandonment of a successful self-started high tech company.
A registered nurse and before that, a paramedic for over 17 years, Stoneham resident Allison Kelley first participated in a breast cancer walk five-years ago.
No stranger to the disease, as she had the unfortunate experience of living and working with breast cancer on a personal and professional level, that first walk alongside stone-determined chemotherapy shrunken patients, breast cancer survivors, and supporting family members proved a life altering experience.
"It was such a motivating experience. You feel your emotional level rise so much, to hear about breast cancer walkers and how they were helped when they were sick. And now they're giving back," Kelley recalled.
"I've been touched by breast cancer in my friends and with general cancer in my family. I knew that I needed to dedicate my life to fighting this disease. And I decided the best way to do that was to become a nurse," the local resident added.
In a mission that soaks up about nine-months of her time, Kelly is now a regular medical volunteer and organizer for the annual Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk in Boston.
The third such event locally since 2003, the 60-mile trek occurs in 12 cities across the U.S. and on the local level, is expected to register more than 1700 participants this year - each of whom raises at least $2100 for breast cancer charities.
According to Breast Cancer 3-Day spokeswoman Amy Marsilli, net proceeds from the annual charity walk benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, an organization that has generated close to $750 million for breast cancer research, treatment, and education.
"As a result of the 2004 Breast Cancer 3-Day, more than $26 million has benefited the foundation. The goal of the 2005 series is to generate $35 million for breast cancer research education and community outreach programs," Marsilli said.
According to Kelley, who labors throughout the 72-hour event to ensure all participants receive necessary medical care - services that most commonly center upon blister and muscle soreness treatments, 200,000 men and women will be diagnosed this year with breast cancer.
Of those, more than 40,000 breast cancer patients will lose their battle with the disease, nearly 5000 in Massachusetts alone.
And with those types of numbers, the reasons for volunteering, participating, or contributing to the annual charity walk are endless, the Stoneham resident says.
If you went into a local community, say Stoneham, and you asked residents, do you know a family member or a friend who's been touched by breast cancer, I would guess that 80 percent of people would say, 'yes.' And that's significant," Kelley remarked.
"So I think the [majority] of people want to support breast cancer research. People in general feel bad about breast cancer, but just don't know how to help. And we need people to support this. We can't get enough doctors and nurses to volunteer. And that's what we need to do, get a hospital sponsor. By god, the medical community needs to wake-up," Kelley appealed.
According to the Stoneham resident, while the 60-mile walk - which is broken down into three daily 20-mile legs - might seem physically grueling, proper training for the event, which runs July 8-10 makes all the difference.
And although the event is right around the corner, meaning some citizens might not be able to adequately prepare for this year's walk, Stonehamites can always help by volunteering their services or making a small donation.
"The first year I was involved, I was surprised. I said to myself, 'my god, how did they walk 20-miles.' But if you do it right, you don't need anything but commitment," Kelly said.
Citizens interested in volunteering or making donations for the Breast Cancer 3-Day charity walk can make a donation online by logging onto www.The3Day.org or by calling 1-800-996-3DAY.
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!