Kelly Turner Cole, now a Retired Police Officer for the City of New Haven, CT. "I was pretty healthy, and I had no reason to suspect something as dreadful as Cancer to invade my body. No family history of cancer, yet I was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in July 2001 at the age of 36. I've gone through chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. As I reflect on my cancer journey, the realities I faced were both devastating and overwhelming.
I have met many cancer patients and their caretakers. I found myself deeply concerned and moved by the people who had to go through treatment suffering financial hardship. They, unlike myself, had neither financial assistance nor resources to fall back on. Many of them have had their houses foreclosed, cars repossessed, utilities shut off, while dealing with a cancer diagnosis and its treatment.
Statistics show that 1 in 4 people do not have assets or resources to sustain them through a crisis of 3 months, should their income be interrupted. As a result research shows that there is an incredible need to have financial resources available for cancer patients that find themselves in need. However, there are none. Leaving many working class individuals with cancer suffering and nowhere to turn.
During my time of illness members of the Police Department, family and friends were instrumental in seeing that I had financial aid during my bout with cancer, through fundraisers given on my behalf. Overwhelmed by so many acts of kindness and experiencing first hand the effects cancer has on every aspect of ones life, I established The C.H.A.I.N Fund, Inc. to raise money to help others who find themselves in need. The objective is to alleviate financial stress and promote wellness, freeing individuals to focus on winning the fight against cancer, and survive to tell the story.
Now that treatment is behind me, I have begun to write a book giving account of my cancer journey, the good and the bad. I hope to encourage most, educate some and enlighten others on the effects a cancer diagnosis has on an individual".
