Orioles To Host LUNGevity 5K Walk In Honor Of Employee Who Died Of Lung Cancer
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- She was a beloved member of the Baltimore Orioles organization, but three years ago Monica Barlow, the team's public relations director, lost her valiant fight against lung cancer at the age of 36.
Ron Matz sat down with Monica's husband to discuss her life and Saturday's Lungevity Walk at Camden Yards, which will raise money for the fight against the deadly disease.
Although Monica never smoked a cigarette, she was diagnosed in 2012 with what people often think of as a smoker's disease.
"Sort of the bottom drops out when you hear that word," her husband Ben says. "Monica took it like a trooper, just sort of making note of things that we needed to do. I went out in the hall and I passed out like a rock."
That same year, Monica continued to work and even celebrated her team's Wild Card playoff win in Texas.
Ben says she did not want to be treated differently because of her illness.
"She's someone who really expected a lot of herself and expected a lot out of the people that worked for her," he says. "And she sort of prided herself in that and she would have never wanted people to sort of take it easy on her or expect less."
And Ben says the bonds of Baltimore baseball run deep.
"People really show the caliber of friends they are because in times of need, folks at the Orioles have come up huge," he says.
The Lungevity Walk & Run begins at Camden Yards at 9 a.m. Saturday.
"It's great to have a walk that's in memory of Monica but our main focus is trying to change the world so that maybe one day there doesn't have to be a walk," Ben says.
For more about the Lungevity Walk, CLICK HERE.
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