Our story
Why we walk.
Since 2012 I have been participating in the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, and I’ve been Team Captain of the Maurine and Patrick’s Troopers team since 2014.
The main reason I walk is for my late sister-in-law Maurine Turcotte. Maurine lost her almost 6-year battle with breast cancer on April 22, 2013, at age 51. Even though Maurine lived with the disease all that time, it was hard to imagine that it would eventually take her life. She was one of the most positive and optimistic people you would ever meet. She left behind so many people who loved her, including the three most important, her husband Jim (my younger brother) and her sons Dylan and Tyler who were 15 and 13 when she passed. Those three guys will always and forever miss her, as will everyone whose life she touched. I spent a lot of time with Maurine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for doctor appointments, chemotherapy and radiation treatment, and various blood tests and scans. So I got to see firsthand the incredible treatment she received.
My Aunt and namesake Lynda Bushey also passed away from breast cancer over 20 years ago and my mother was a 14-year breast cancer survivor until her passing (not from cancer) on December 14, 2014. Sadly on March 31, 2015, I lost a friend of 30 years, Kathy Garnett to lung cancer. It’s all around us and everyone has been touched by someone who has survived or succumbed to this horrific disease. So I walk in memory of the loved ones we lost and raise money and awareness in order to help anyone diagnosed in the future. I would love nothing more but to see a cure in my lifetime. Once again, all of the funds raised by our team for this year’s Walk will go directly to support the research of Dr. Harold Burstein of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Burstein was the oncologist who treated Maurine and I have much admiration for him.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support.
– Linda
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
When you give to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, you can be confident your support is making a powerful difference in the fight against cancer for adults and children.
Every gift, no matter the size, advances our lifesaving mission. When you give to Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund you invest in a world without cancer.
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Bench to Bedside
Dana-Farber’s equal commitment to innovative cancer research and compassionate patient care is unique among cancer centers.
This commitment results in an extraordinary level of collaboration between our scientists and clinicians, speeding the translation of groundbreaking laboratory discoveries into treatments that change the lives of patients from all over the world.
Your money goes towards helping sustain Dana-Farber’s lifesaving work and funds things like ground-breaking clinical trials, the development of new cancer-fighting drugs, and equipment that enables revolutionary discoveries.
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Why give to Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund?
Eighty-eight cents of every dollar you give goes directly to cancer research and patient care. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has been the top-ranked cancer hospital in New England by U.S. News & World Report for 21 consecutive years and is the only cancer center in the country ranked in the top 4 for both adult and pediatric cancer programs.
Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund have received a 4-star rating (highest possible) from Charity Navigator, America’s largest charity evaluator, recognizing our prudent financial management and low cost of funds raised. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was named the #3 cancer center in the world by Newsweek in its World's Best Specialized Hospitals ranking.
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Maurine would always say,
“I am the research that will help other women diagnosed with Breast Cancer in the future.”
She was right, as some of the drugs that were used during many of the clinical trials she participated in are now helping save the lives of breast cancer patients today. She left a legacy that will never be forgotten.
