Survivor at Every Stadium: Arizona Cardinals

Glendale, AZ. Arizona lung cancer survivors Mary Ann Laverty, Anne Bailey, Yovana Portillo and Joanne Schlesinger joined Team Draft co-founder Chris Draft at State Farm Stadium on Thursday night. The group watched a Thursday Night Football match up between the Arizona Cardinals and the Denver Broncos. #4Ladies #changingthefaceoflungcancer #sidelinepasses 

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Eleven and half months in from my diagnosis of NSCLC I have found a world of survivors. I am honestly humbled at kindness and compassion I see being shared. The online community which is slowly fueling me with feeling empowered is how I found Team Draft. This was my firsr opportunity to meet other survivors, to be in company of these amazing women was an honor. Chris Draft reinforces what I partially know and what I know I want to learn. Research matters and spreading the word on LC. Make is personal. Being part of Team Draft and the Cardinals for Thursday night football exceeded expectations and was a great means to start thinking of a platform to share my story. I am humbled by the kindness that was shared. I hope to be take what this information to the advocate platform. Changing the face of lung cancer is real. Its all of us. #Research needed ~ Joanne Schlesinger

I feel extremely blessed to have been granted the opportunity to attend a Thursday Night Football game with some of my Lung Cancer Sisters as guests of Christ Draft with #TeamDraft and we were graciously hosted by the Arizona Cardinals! This was a very exciting and truly a once in a lifetime experience! It was so neat to receive Pre-Game Sideline passes and to be so close to the players and watch them as they warmed up before the game! It was an honor to be able to represent the Lung Cancer Community from Arizona and to show the world what Lung Cancer looks like, a Lung Cancer Survivor looks like me! Being a spectator at a nationally televised football game and being surrounded by everyday people, was very impactful to me because for a few hours I was able to forget my diagnosis and simply enjoy and live in the present moment and feed off of the positive energy and atmosphere in the stadium! It goes on to show that by simply looking at our group, no one would have guessed that each of us has been impacted by Lung Cancer. We all look like your average everyday people too! But it also proves that by simply being present and owning your story, any setting can serve as an opportunity to share your story. Knowledge is power and no one knows my story better than I do! This is particularly valuable because at the end of the day Lung Cancer can affect anyone with lungs and it is crucial to have a conversation regarding this disease with everyone I encounter should the opportunity arise. It was so very humbling to be able to share this wonderful experience with my Lung Cancer Sisters and this is an amazing memory I will treasure forever! ~ Yovana Portillo

In 2012, we, Team Draft, launched our inaugural Survivor Series initiative on CNN during a nationally-televised prime time special focusing on lung cancer and our National Campaign to Change the Face of Lung Cancer. Our Survivor at Every Stadium, leverages our connections with the NFL, its teams and players with our relationships with many of the top cancer centers in the country. As a part of our International Campaign, the games allow us to celebrate our survivors, raise awareness, and give hope to those battling the disease, as well as shine a light on the important work being done at cancer research and treatment centers around the country.

Team Draft’s goals are to create a unique experience for participating survivors and to raise awareness on a local, national, and international level by using each game and each survivor’s story to weave a broader narrative about the state of cancer and the hope that now exists for those battling the disease.

Special thanks to the Arizona Cardinals, Luis Zendejas, the NFL and all of our Team Draft supporters for helping make this event possible.

Donate now to Support the National Campaign to Change the Face of Lung Cancer!