On Friday, May 11, the International Market Square in Minneapolis featured turquoise lights, cocktails and gowns for the LUNG FORCE Oxygen Ball. An estimated 150 people attended the American Lung Association in Minnesota event, which raised more than $100,000.
The event was themed turquoise, the signature color of LUNG FORCE, and included a cocktail hour, silent auction, plated dinner, inspirational speakers, a live band and more. Local hockey player and lung cancer survivor Rachael Malmberg shared her story about her journey with stage 4 lung cancer.
“On April 21, 2017, I was diagnosed at the age of 31 with adenocarcinoma with metastasized to my brain, and lymph nodes in my chest, so basically to sum it up, I’m stage 4. Anyone with a little medical background knows this is not what you want to hear at any time, let alone at the age of 31,” said Malmberg during her speech at the event Friday evening. “During the diagnoses process, I experienced so many emotions, yet what I continued to come back to was the inevitable why. Why me? Why now? What I will tell you is, I don’t know and I frankly don’t need to know, but it’s human nature to wonder. Through this journey I’ve decided to listen to my faith, I am on this journey for a reason. Right now my job is to fight, learn, communicate and positively impact others. To make a difference in any way possible.”
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Oxygen Ball was held during national Women’s Lung Health Week, an annual observance from May 6 – 12. Almost 90 cents of every dollar raised will go to the Lung Association’s programs and services, including research, advocacy and public health education.
