Orioles Host LUNGevity 5K Walk In Honor Of Employee Who Died Of Lung Cancer
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Saturday morning hundreds of runners and walkers pounded the pavement at Camden Yards to raise money in hopes to find a cure for a form of cancer that's claiming thousands of lives every year.
For nine years Cindy Jones has been in a fight with lung cancer.
"I'm living with cancer, and living well," Jones said.
She credits doctors and advances in medicine with helping to keep her alive.
"You see seas of blue shirts, out here but only a handful of green... the green shirts are the survivors," she said.
Jones was among hundreds of walkers and runners in honor of friends, and family who did not beat the disease.
The Breathe Deep Baltimore 5K run raised money for the LUNGevity Foundation, the country's largest non-profit aimed at providing early detection, research and education of the disease.
All of which Jones says is key in battling the disease.
"Lung cancer is a very difficult disease, it's not diagnosed at early ages, because there's no early screening," she said.
The disease also hits home for the Baltimore Orioles, the sponsor of the event.
The team's former PR director, Monica Pence Barlow, died from the disease.
Her husband Ben Barlow is hoping the event can bring change for those battling the disease.
"I'm really hoping we get to the point one day when we won't have to have a walk like this anymore," Barlow said.
The Orioles have raised nearly $600,00 for the foundation since 2012.
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