McCandless’ Teresa O’Rourke, the event's organizer, and Wexford’s Mike Byrnes both lost loved ones too early to this disease and they are on a mission to raise awareness that lung cancer doesn’t discriminate – if you have lungs, you can get lung cancer.
By sharing their stories, they hope to thwart the stigma that lung cancer often receives as just a “smoker’s disease.” This stigma is preventing critical funding to support research on lung cancer. Meanwhile, many individuals who never smoked a day in their life, like Mike’s wife, Darlene Byrnes, are dying from this terrible disease.
The event brought out over 230 participants and raised over $21,000 for lung cancer research and awareness programs.
Below you can read more about Teresa & Mike's stories.
Teresa O’Rourke
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Teresa O’Rourke is 37 years old and a resident of McCandless. Teresa’s father, Alfred Crytser, passed away from lung cancer in 1996. Teresa was 19 years old at the time he was diagnosed. Alfred was a father to seven girls and worked in the steel mills in Duquesne for many years.
This is not the first time that Teresa has walked to raise money for lung cancer in honor of her father. Back in 2009, Teresa set a date, found donors, and set out on a 5K walk around Pittsburgh solo to raise money for lung cancer. In 2010, she walked again. This time, she was joined by her husband, Ryan. By 2012, Teresa was eager to expand on her annual fundraising. She noted that there was a well-known (and well-attended) local walk for almost every other type of cancer, but not one for lung cancer. After doing some research, Teresa found the National Lung Cancer Partnership (NLCP). She contacted NLCP and asked to bring their Free to Breathe event to her hometown.
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As co-chair of the inaugural Free to Breathe event in Pittsburgh, Teresa was the driving force behind everything from logistics to advertising and sponsorships. She also walked with family and friends to raise funds for “Team Al’s Pals.” It was a love of labor for Teresa, who is passionate about spreading awareness and raising sorely needed funds for this type of cancer that has been overlooked and stigmatized for far too long. In Teresa’s words, “I hope to start a support system for those who are affected by lung cancer. When my dad passed away and I told people, their immediate question was, ‘Oh, did he smoke?’ It made me feel sad and guilty. So I stopped telling people. I don't think people realize how hurtful it is to ask someone who had a loved one die from lung cancer, "Did they smoke?" -- as if they brought it on themselves.
"The image of lung cancer is an old man who smoked for 50 years, but I've met survivors in their thirties. I had no idea that radon was the second-most common cause of lung cancer. I also had no idea it killed more people than breast, prostate and melanoma cancers combined. And because of the stigma that lung cancer gets, I think the support that patients and family members receive has to be a little different too. I'd like this to be the beginning of that support system.”
Mike Byrnes
Mike Byrnes is 56, a father of three and a resident of Wexford. Mike lost his wife Darlene to lung cancer in March 2012. She was 55 years old and had never smoked a day in her life.
The location of the Free to Breathe 5K/1-mile walk is near and dear to Mike’s heart. The park is a short distance from his home and the North Park Boathouse is where he and Darlene started their countless walks together for over two decades. Darlene was not there to walk by his side on June 16. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in the summer of 2011 and on March 9, 2012, Darlene lost her battle to this disease. Mike walked in her memory at "Free to Breathe" with his sons to raise crucial funds for awareness and research on this disease. In Mike’s words, “If I can help one person after going through what we went through, I have to.”
Darlene Byrnes was a former nurse with unshakable faith. She was passionate about teaching the Catholic doctrine to children and she served as a CCD instructor at their local church for many years. She was a proud mother her three sons, one of whom is an elite marathon runner. “Our son Greg has superhuman lungs, yet his mom died of lung cancer,” Mike noted.
Last year, Darlene passed away 5 weeks before the Boston Marathon her son was training for and Greg wore his mother’s Miraculous Medal for the race – it was the medal she always had pinned to her. Despite 88 degree temperatures on the day of the marathon, Greg came in 165th place out of 28,000 runners. No small feat. And no ordinary medal he had pinned to him, Mike recounts. “There was a power in that medal.”
For more information about the Free to Breathe 5K/1-Mile Walk visit: www.freetobreathe.org/pittsburgh