Billy Cundiff and Wife Nicole Drury Cundiff Officially Launch Colleen’s Dream
NFL Kicker Billy Cundiff and Wife Nicole Drury Cundiff Officially Launch Colleen’s Dream Foundation in Honor of Colleen Drury
NFL Kicker Billy Cundiff and his wife Nicole Drury Cundiff have officially launched Colleen’s Dream Foundation in honor of Colleen Drury in an effort to support early detection of, and advanced treatment for, ovarian cancer.
Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) April 03, 2013
NFL Kicker Billy Cundiff and his wife Nicole Drury Cundiff have officially launched Colleen’s Dream Foundation in honor of Colleen Drury. Colleen Drury is Cundiff’s mother-in-law and the foundation was started in an effort to support early detection of, and advanced treatment for, ovarian cancer according to Cundiff.
Colleen Drury passed away in February 2013 after battling ovarian cancer for over five years.
“Colleen’s Dream Foundation is currently creating relationships with some of the top research institutions in the world, and will provide seed funding to the brightest young investigators researching ovarian cancer.” says Cundiff.
Go here to learn more about, or make donations to Colleen’s Dream Foundation.
Ovarian cancer is often referred to as “the silent killer” because many women do not discover their disease until it is in the late stages, says Cundiff. He says this leads to many women succumbing to the disease within a short period of time because unlike cervical or breast cancer, ovarian cancer does not have a standardized early detection procedure. He says the goal of Colleen’s Dream Foundation is to change that.
“We lost Colleen entirely too soon,” says Cundiff. “Colleen’s Dream Foundation is our chance to build on her amazing legacy, while actively trying to change the landscape of ovarian cancer. We love and miss Colleen and unfortunately we are not the only ones to experience this reality. Colleen’s Dream Foundation is our chance to help others who are directly affected by this terrible disease.”
Cundiff says the Foundation was started in 2012, five years after his mother-in-law Colleen Drury was diagnosed with late-stage ovarian cancer. Through her journey fighting her cancer, Colleen and her family’s eyes were opened to a new world filled with invasive surgery, harsh chemotherapy, and lots of uncertainty.
You can read about the family’s journey on a blog that Colleen and her daughters kept over the past five years at Colleen’s Journey.
Cundiff says now that Colleen has passed, he and Colleen’s four daughters (Nicole, Danielle, Michelle, and Billie) are focusing their energy on fulfilling Colleen’s dream of building Colleen’s Dream Foundation to fund research focused on the early detection of, and advanced treatment for, ovarian cancer.
Nicole Cundiff says funding research is the Foundation’s top priority in reaching that goal.
“Ovarian cancer, the deadliest of gynecological cancers, claimed the life of our vibrant, healthy and active mom,” says Nicole. “Our passion and dream lies in funding cutting-edge research, based on a vision of preventing other woman from suffering the same ultimate fate as our beautiful mom.”
Daughter Michelle agrees with Nicole, and wants Colleen’s Dream Foundation to fund research that will help prevent other women from suffering the way her mother did.
“As a daughter of Colleen’s, I had to watch my beautiful, strong, healthy mother suffer the ultimate misfortune of a late ovarian cancer diagnosis and endure over five years of chemotherapy, which was physically impairing and greatly impacted her quality of life,” says Michelle. “She lost her hard-fought battle in February 2013. I wish we could have saved our mom, but since this was not possible, I am committed to fulfilling her dream of saving the lives of other mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends, who follow behind her.”
Daughter Billie says her mother provided her with the inspiration to help other women diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
“Colleen’s Dream Foundation lies close to my heart as my mom inspired me to fight ovarian cancer not only for her, but for all mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends. My dream is to establish a platform in which ovarian cancer is no longer a force to be reckoned with. I am confident that our mom’s dream will one day be realized with accurate early detection and effective treatment.”
And daughter Danielle says early detection of the disease would mean less suffering and more lives saved.
“Colleen’s Dream Foundation has significant meaning to me after watching my mom fight an arduous five year battle against ovarian cancer,” says Danielle. “It is vital that early detection tools are developed so we can stop this insidious disease from taking any more lives. This foundation is unique in that its primary goal is funding research so we can find this disease at its earliest point. I look forward to the day ovarian cancer is known as a curable disease.”
Go here to learn more about, or make donations to Colleen’s Dream Foundation.
Colleen’s Dream Foundation is a qualified 501 (c)(3) tax exempt non-profit organization based in Phoenix, AZ. Colleen’s Dream Foundation offers seed funding for cutting-edge research by some of the brightest, young minds in the world.