Tireless Lung Cancer Advocate and Seven-Year Leader of Breathe Deep Boston Walk Named October LUNGevity Hero

WASHINGTON, October 2015 – LUNGevity Foundation names Sandwich, Massachusetts resident Kathy Cuddy the October LUNGevity Hero for her tireless lung cancer advocacy and critical role as a lead organizer of LUNGevity’s Breathe Deep Boston walk, now in its tenth year.

Kathy became involved in LUNGevity’s work after lung cancer touched her own family. She watched her two younger sisters and a brother-in-law receive lung cancer diagnoses, endure chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and then pass away. Both of Kathy’s sisters were only 51 when they died, several months after receiving their original lung cancer diagnoses. The cancer had already spread.  As a result, Kathy focuses on raising awareness of the importance of early detection. She is committed to raising funds for research into viable early detection options so that more lung cancer patients’ diagnoses will be made earlier, when the disease is at its most treatable.

At age 70, Kathy, a retired speech and language pathologist, shows no signs of slowing down in her mission to end lung cancer. She took over leadership of the Boston walk committee in 2008 and this year’s event will mark her seventh year coordinating LUNGevity’s Breathe Deep Boston 5k walk, which takes place Saturday, October 31, 2015 at DCR's Carson Beach. Since 2008, she has overseen the ten-person walk committee, spearheading the planning and execution of the walk, supporting the local lung cancer community, and championing the cause in the Boston area.

“Kathy is a driving force behind our Breathe Deep Boston walk,” said Andrea Ferris, president of LUNGevity Foundation. “For seven years she has inspired survivors, reminded family members and caregivers that they are not alone, and sparked a critical conversation about lung cancer in the Boston area. If we’re lucky, she’ll lead this walk for many more years!”

For more on Kathy Cuddy, see the LUNGevity Heroes blog at www.lungevity.org/heroes-blog.

For more information on LUNGevity Foundation, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.

About Lung Cancer

• 1 in 15 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime
• More than 221,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year
• About 60%-65% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers
• Lung cancer takes more lives than the next three leading cancers (colorectal, breast, and prostate) combined
• Only 17% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, BUT if it’s caught before it spreads, the chance for 5-year survival improves dramatically