How do you Turn Tragedy into Doing Good? A young (S)Hero Takes Her Life Changing Loss & Creates Hope

Dec. 29, 2010 - PRLog -- Kelli Sargent lost her mother Nanci to ovarian cancer, which if it had been detected early could have saved her life, but because symptoms are nebulous and often discounted, Nanci lost her life to the disease. Out of response and an awakening that the disease created, Kelli set out to design a run/walk to rasie money and awareness for ovarian cancer. Since the first Run for Her many years ago, 13,000 participants have raised $3 million for ovarian cancer. "Never in a million years would I ever have imagined this," said Kelli Sargent, who has since gone to work in community relations at the famous Cedars-Sinai Hospital, which sponsors the event.  Run for Her has spread to several other U.S. cities and five other countries, and Sargent's goal this year was to register runners, walkers or donors in all 50 states.  Kelli’s connection to a foundation for ovarian cancer started in the summer of 2000, when Kelli was headed to London for an internship, but almost didn't get on the plane. Her mother, Nanci, hadn't been feeling well for a few months, and Kelli was worried.  Then again, her mother had beaten a grim prognosis years earlier with Hodgkin's disease. Kelli's parents convinced her everything would be fine, so off she went to London.  A few weeks later, she got a call from home. "My parents told me it was ovarian cancer and I burst into tears." For her master's thesis at the University of San Francisco, where she was studying sports management, Kelli Sargent designed a marketing plan for a 5k run and walk. It would later become known as Run for Her.  At the Cedar’s Women's Cancer Research Institute, the lab staff has doubled to about 40 in recent years, in part because of the money raised by Run for Her. Their research is aimed at finding better ways to screen for ovarian cancer, as well as to study genetic and environmental factors and to develop more effective treatment.  Kelli’s mother participated in the first three Run for Her events, but the cancer eventually spread to her brain and she died in 2008, roughly nine years after being diagnosed. She was 62.  When caught early, ovarian cancer is highly treatable, but late diagnosis is very common — and often deadly because the symptoms are often vague, not the sort of thing that send a person to rushing to the doctor. Even when a woman does go in early, doctors often don't suspect cancer immediately, as happened in Nanci Sargent's case. Motivated by her mother's 10-year battle with cancer and inspired by her continued courage.  Kelli's mom, Nanci, lost her battle to ovarian cancer, but her strength, inspiration and compassion will continue through run for her. Kelli works to fulfill Nanci’s dream of saving the lives of the women in our life.  

Historically, ovarian cancer has been called the "silent killer" because symptoms often became apparent so late in the process that chances of a cure were poor.
A catchy phrase, but it is wrong, according to a consensus statement released Tuesday by the American Cancer Society, the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, and the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists. In fact, these experts say, recent medical studies show identifiable symptoms often do exist for ovarian cancer, even in the early stages. The most common of these are: bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, trouble eating or feeling full quickly, urinary symptoms, such as urgent or frequent feelings of needing to go.
Each year in the United States, more than 21,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and about 15,000 women die of the disease. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 21,550 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed in the United States during 2009. 14,600 deaths are expected to be caused by ovarian cancer in the United States in 2009.
According to the data, the mortality rates for ovarian cancer have not improved in thirty years since the “War on Cancer” was declared. However, other cancers have shown a marked reduction in mortality, due to the availability of early detection tests and improved treatments. Unfortunately, this is not the case with ovarian cancer, which is still the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers.

Kelli Sargent is interviewed on Deborah Dachinger’s Dare to Dream radio show with upbeat, informative, and touching conversation. Dare to Dream was created to inspire listeners to take steps towards their dreams and turn those goals into a reality.  
The "Dare to Dream" radio show has been featured in Yahoo News, Earth Times, and Singapore Star News. The show won the “Intriguing Creator” award from YouPublish, an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award from Elite VIP, and inducted into the W.C. Mepham Who’s Who Alumni Hall of Fame.

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Successful and inspirational individuals are interviewed on “Dare to Dream” radio. Featured in Earth Times, Yahoo News, Singapore Star News; Honorary Career Achievement Award from Elite VIP; “Intriguing Creator” award from YouPublish.