Cancer does not discriminate. It does not care who you are, what you have done, or how deeply you are loved. It invades lives without warning and leaves behind heartbreak that never fully fades. Every one of us has been touched by this disease in some way. And every one of us has a reason to fight.
Through the Women in Blue Campaign, we have an opportunity to turn our pain into purpose.
Courtney Pruitt — the daughter of my lifelong friend — was a light in this world. An incredible young woman with her whole future ahead of her. In April 2018, she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Instead of celebrating the milestones of her senior year, she spent it fighting for her life in a children’s hospital. On May 9, 2019, Courtney lost her battle with ALL. The world lost a beautiful soul, and those of us who loved her have never been the same.
Conrad Naftel was truly one of a kind — generous, compassionate, and loved by so many. His cancer diagnosis was shocking and devastating. It is impossible to make sense of how someone who gave so much to others could be handed such a cruel reality. Cancer does not play fair.
And they are not the only ones. There are so many names, so many faces, so many stories that live in my heart. For each of them, I choose to fight. I choose to raise funds. I choose to stand up against a disease that has taken too much from too many.
We cannot bring them back. But we can honor them. We can refuse to let their stories end in silence. We can channel our grief into action and our love into impact.
Together, through the Women in Blue Campaign. We fight for Courtney. We fight for Conrad. We fight for every person whose life has been forever changed by cancer.
And we will not stop.