07/22/2019
Please visit my personal page https://give.ulmanfoundation.org/everyday-hero/KristenBrooks
On September 21, I’m strapping on boxing gloves and stepping into the ring at Fight Night presented by KO Public Affairs to support young adults going through their own bouts with cancer. As an Everyday Hero, I am committed to training, becoming a USA Boxing sanctioned fighter, and raising awareness for this amazing cause. As a culmination of my efforts, I will go rounds against another “mover and shaker” of the community in front of a packed crowd at Baltimore’s Horseshoe Casino.
Proceeds from this event will benefit the Ulman Foundation, a non-profit organization that creates a community of support for adolescents and young adults impacted by cancer. They provide a variety of services and programs for these young adults, such as the brand new Ulman House! Ulman House offers free housing for patients and their caregivers as they undergo treatment in the Baltimore area, providing a short commute to four local hospitals. The Patient Navigation Team address concerns specific to young adult patients, like fertility preservation, financial assistance, survivorship programs and the transition back to school or work. Ulman also awards over 30 scholarships each year to young adults impacted by cancer!
I've had several family members and friends that have dealt with cancer but one touched me like no other. My grandfather, lovingly known as Pip was a very healthy 91 year young man! Pip lived in his own house, maintened the interior and exterior, cut his own grass and trimmed his trees / bushes, drove his own orange Toyota Tacoma and went grocery shopping, enjoyed McDonald's sausage biscuit with his black coffee, visited the cemetery daily to visit his wife (grandma Cookie) and grandson (my brother Bob), and many other tasks. In March of 2012 he noticed his voice becoming very scratchy and so he went to the doctor. After a few doctors visits and tests it was determined he had throat cancer. He began radiation treatments daily, and I was lucky enough to be the one to take him and spend that quality time with him. After weeks of treatment, feeling ill, and burning of the skin on his neck and throat we received promising news that the tumor decreased in size and he could stop treatments. About a week or so later durning a routine screening they discovered cancer in his left lung lobe. Pip was given a few options but he choose to have a portion of his lobe removed in hopes it would keep it from spreading. His determination was strong to survive and live longer than his mother whom passed at the ripe ol' age of 100. A few weeks pass and we are told the tumor in his throat had increased in size and that the cancer had spread to the other lobe. Pip decided to live the best life he could surrounded by family till his time came. We made him hot meals every night, did his laundry, and helped him bathe till the day he said he was ready. October 2012 he checked into hospice and took his last breath the day after his granddaughters tenth birthday, October 8th, 2012. Pip was a man of honor who served in the Marines and fought in two wars, he was a lifetime member of the Reisterstown Vol Fire Company, a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
Supporting these young adults is important to me because I know first hand how hard cancer is, and this is why I have chosen to become an Everyday Hero. Help me support their fight against cancer by donating to my page and contributing that extra one-two punch to knockout cancer!
On September 21, I’m strapping on boxing gloves and stepping into the ring at Fight Night presented by KO Public Affairs to support young adults going through their own bouts with cancer. As an Everyday Hero, I am committed to training, becoming a USA Boxing sanctioned fighter, and raising awarene...
