I received this message today on Facebook from a guy named Parick McDonough. I was reading … reading—figured everything would work out at the end.
Then I reached the end.
If you’re looking for a cause this week, here’s a great one. And if you give, I’ll send you a copy of the Clemens book. Just e-mail that you did (I can’t imagine someone would lie about making a donation to cancer), and I’ll hook you up.
Great cause, worthy memory.
Here’s the message:
On September 12th, my mother, father, sister and I will join our family friends, the Ciampa and Kiley families, for the annual Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk. The 40 of us on team Krazy Kileys are walking in memory of Lauren Ciampa, daughter of Frank and Sheila, who are good friends of my family.
Last year, I was fortunate enough to participate in the walk with the rest of Team Krazy Kiley’s on what was one of the most emotional and inspiration days of my life. So many of you were incredibly generous with your donations last year, and I cannot begin to thank you enough for your amazing generosity. Lauren’s family was unbelievably touched both by how many people walked in her honor on team Krazy Kiley’s as well as how much money we were all able to raise in Lauren’s honor. I’m so excited to have an opportunity to be a part of this event again this year and help do my small part to honor Lauren’s dream and fight to find a cure to this terrible disease that touches so many of us today.
As I told most of you last year, Lauren was diagnosed a few years ago with a rare and aggressive form of cancer, right before she was set to attend Villanova University’s School of Business. Attending Villanova was a dream of Laurens, but after being accepted to the school, she had to be placed on the deferral list as she underwent a myriad of operations and fought through many rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. However, in October 2008, after her final operation, Lauren was declared cancer-free, and she immediately called Villanova to let them know she would be attending the school in the second semester.
Lauren started school in January of 2009: she was doing incredibly well in her studies, and was having a wonderful time while fulfilling her lifelong goal. However, a trip to Boston for some tests in March showed the cancer had returned. Lauren bravely returned to school, deciding that she would fight to accomplish the goal she made months earlier to finish the semester. She did, finishing the semester by excelling in her studies and completing her final exams. Lauren returned home from the semester on May 7th. On May 8th, she was admitted to the hospital, and passed away on May 13th, shortly after celebrating her 21st birthday.
Lauren was a daily inspiration to every person who knew her her family, her friends, her doctors, her fellow students and administrators at Villanova, and everyone at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital in Boston. She taught so many of us what determination, courage, strength, and faith should be.
After watching Lauren and her family battle her illness during the past years, my family and I have been amazed to see how her entire extended family showered Lauren and her immediate family with as much love, affection and support as they did. Not only was Lauren a daily inspiration to all of us who knew her, but to see the way her family reacted was also equally inspirational to my family and many others.
One of Lauren’s other dreams was that the doctors, nurses and other caregivers at Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute, in conjunction with the Jimmy Fund, would one day find a cure for cancer, so that she and many, many others like her would beat their illnesses and go on to live long, happy, fulfilling lives that many of the rest of us can take for granted. She witnessed first-hand the great talents and incredible work that the people of these organizations do on a daily basis, in terms of both research and development of treatment to eradicate cancer, as well as wonderful support and comfort they give to the patients themselves and their families.
As I said earlier, over 40 of us are helping to make Laurens dream become a reality by participating in the annual Jimmy Fund Walk to raise money for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The Ciampa and Kiley families, and I, would greatly appreciate any contribution you could make to our effort.
If you would like to donate, please go to http://www.jimmyfundwalk.org/2010/kpmcdonough, where you can donate to our team, The Krazy Kileys, in Lauren’s memory. It truly is an amazing cause, and anything that you can donate would be greatly appreciated. To all those who so generously gave to our cause last year, again I say thank you for your wonderful generosity. You were an incredible support for all of us on Team Krazy Kiley.
The Jimmy Fund Walk website accepts credit cards and debit cards for donations, and every little bit will help us achieve our fundraising goal this year. If each of you could give us only a mere $5, that would help us monumentally break our goal and hopefully once and for all eradicate this illness that has waged so much heartbreak on families across this country.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Thank you again for your support. I cannot begin to tell you how much it means to Lauren’s family, to my family, and to everyone working to find a cure. Please help us make Laurens dream a reality.
Thank you,
Patrick
