A sculpture of a human doing a warrior pose yoga stretch. The Inspiration Club will host its first annual Breathe Strong Lung Cancer Walk on Sunday. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor
On Sunday, over a hundred people will lace up their sneakers and join together for a shared purpose: breaking the stigma.?
The Inspiration Club, an organization that promotes education and awareness in respiratory therapy, will host its first annual Breathe Strong Lung Cancer Walk at the Recreation and Physical Activity Center at noon.
All funds raised from the walk will be donated to Blue Beautiful Skies Fund, a lung cancer research initiative at the Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center.?
Inspiration Club decided to fundraise for lung cancer research due to misconceptions surrounding the condition, said Rebecca Fox, assistant professor in respiratory therapy and faculty advisor for the fundraiser.?
“Lung cancer carries a major stigma behind it where people just assume that if you have lung cancer, it’s because you were a smoker,” Fox said. “There’s actually a large population of people that have never smoked and develop lung cancer, and there’s lots of different types of lung cancer.”
In the United States, lung cancer is the second most common cancer and the leading cause in cancer-related deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. About 10 percent to 20 percent of these cases occur in individuals who have rarely or have never smoked.??
Though there are many causes of lung cancer, the cause should not dictate treatment quality, said Nicole Kemer, a fourth-year in respiratory therapy and president of Inspiration Club.?
“Smoking is a big cause of lung cancer. Just because people do smoke and that’s a main reason why some people can get lung cancer, it doesn’t make it any less important,” Kemer said. “Those patients still deserve the care that other patients are receiving.”
Despite its prevalence, Fox said lung cancer has one of the lowest survival rates.?
“A lot of that is attributed to the fact that there’s this stigma that people did it to themselves, and that’s not true,” Fox said.?
By providing resources and promoting public education initiatives, Fox said Inspiration Club aims to combat stigma surrounding lung cancer.?
“There’s a breast cancer walk and there’s these other walks — The Heart Association, Pelotonia, all these other great events. There’s nothing for lung cancer. So, we decided to make sure there was something,” Fox said.?
The Inspiration Club has considered initiating a fundraising 5K for multiple years, but has not been able to host it due to logistical challenges, Fox said.?
“This is something that I’ve wanted to do for years and have been trying to plan and just for one reason or another, it just hasn’t ever gotten off the ground,” Fox said. “The fact that this is actually happening on Sunday and that we have this kind of turnout just really goes to show how much effort and work these students have put in.”
Though the organization was originally worried about turnout, Fox said it was surprised to see high interest in the event.?
“We have over 160 people at this moment that are coming to do this walk with us, and they come from a wide variety of walks of life from students in the program to employees of the hospital to my daughter’s Girl Scouts troupe,” Fox said.?
Regardless of background, everyone should care about lung cancer research, Fox said.?
“There are just a lot of people who have a personal connection that when they really sit down and think about it, they do,” Fox said. “It might not be a connection to specifically lung cancer, maybe it’s a different type of cancer.”?
Additionally, it is important for people to understand the causes and warning signs of lung cancer to aid in early detection, said Ahmad Ismail, a fourth-year in respiratory therapy and event coordinator for the fundraiser.
“You really don’t know when something is going to happen to you. You don’t know what the future holds,” Ismail said. “Maybe you’re someone that thinks that lung cancer is solely caused by smoking, and then you’ve never smoked in your life and you end up developing lung cancer.”
Ismail said there are also a lot of unknowns in the condition, increasing the need for research funding.
“With the rise in vaping, we don’t know what the future holds in that we don’t know how badly that’s going to affect our lungs,” Ismail said.??
Kemer said Inspiration Club hopes to dispel some of these misconceptions and unknown areas by raising money for research. Additionally, it hopes that the event will increase understanding of lung cancer for participants.?
“It’s not only about fundraising for research and families, but we really want to raise awareness more about lung cancer and the different causes,” Kemer said.?
The fundraiser is open to the public and everyone is encouraged to attend, Ismail said.?
“It’s a really fun educational opportunity for students to kind of come together and support a really important cause,” said Kayla Champion, a fourth-year in respiratory therapy and head of fundraising for the event.?
To register, visit the organization’s Instagram page or register here. Walk-in registration is also available.
