By: Engagement Insider
Former NFL linebacker Chris Draft has witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of lung cancer. That’s why Team Draft, an initiative of the Chris Draft Family Foundation, is on a mission to tackle the disease.
Team Draft is dedicated to raising lung cancer awareness and increasing much needed research funding by shattering the misconception that lung cancer is a “smoker’s disease.” Between 20,000 and 30,000 people who have never smoked—including Draft’s late wife Keasha Rutledge Draft—are diagnosed with lung cancer each year. The smoking stigma negatively impacts lung cancer research funding, which pales in comparison to funding for other major cancers and diseases. “If we can take away the stigma that says you have to be a smoker to get lung cancer, we have a real chance to educate people about the true nature of the disease,” explains Draft.
The reality is anyone can get lung cancer, and for decades, the facts about lung cancer have been sobering:
- Over 60% of lung cancers are diagnosed in people who never smoked or in former smokers
- Lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the #1 cancer killer for women in 1987
- Lung cancer kills more people than any other cancer and takes more lives than breast, cervical, and prostate cancers combined
- The five year survival rate for lung cancer is just 16%, a rate that has changed very little since the 1970s
Since Chris and Keasha launched Team Draft at their wedding in November 2011, the national campaign has taken the mission to over 80 of the top cancer research and treatment facilities in North America. In addition to raising public awareness, the campaign also seeks to share the hope that now exists for those diagnosed with the disease. “Our hope is not only to positively impact research funding, but to improve the quality of life for those affected by lung cancer,” says Draft. “We aren’t fighting against lung cancer, we’re fighting for people.”
This weekend, Draft will join bestselling author, producer, and philanthropist T.D. Jakes on his new show T.D. Jakes Presents: Mind, Body & Soul to speak about his personal experience of losing a loved one to lung cancer, and the work that Team Draft is doing to tackle the disease. The episode airs Sunday, December 22nd at 2:00 PM on BET.