Honoring the life of my favorite person, my dad.
My dad was a non-smoker. He was classically trained vocally, and loved to run around the house singing Opera music in his ~shocking~ soprano voice. He loved to sing for his local church choir and would visit nursing homes during the holidays to carol and spread holiday cheer.
He had an uncontrollable cough for a few months, so my mother forced him to the doctor to get checked out. He was initially diagnosed with pneumonia. After several more months of uncontrollable coughing, he went back to the doctor. After extensive testing, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-small Cell Lung Cancer and given an expected 6 months to live.
He did everything in his power not to let Lung Cancer define him and control his life. He amazed us all - he fought the fight and lived for nearly 3 years with the disease, surpassing all of our expectations. We are grateful for every additional minute he fought for, and we all miss him dearly.
I formed Team Buccieri in 2016 to encourage everyone to help break the stigma behind lung cancer. The most common misconception about Lung cancer is that "you have to smoke to get it", but my dad was a prime example of how it can happen to anyone.
We are the voices for those who have already lost their battles with this disease. With today’s advancements with Lung Cancer screening, we urge everyone to take advantage of this new technology and GO GET SCREENED!
My family was blindsided by my dad’s diagnosis; we don’t want any other family to endure what ours did. On behalf of Team Buccieri, thank you to the American Lung Association for organizing this event, and thank you to all the sponsors and everyone who supports the cause. Nobody deserves lung cancer, and together we will all continue to fight. This year, I urge our friends and family to come together with Team Buccieri on the 13th anniversay of Ed's passing to help spread Lung Cancer awareness.
And to my hero: not a day goes by that we don't think about you. Everything we do is to make you proud and honor your memory.