Cancer Survivor Supports Others In The Fight Of Their Lives
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) About a dozen cancer survivors circled their arms as a qigong instructor quietly called out instructions.
Teresa Heger takes the class to relax, as she fights her second bout with breast cancer.
"When you're first diagnosed, it's really frightening," she explained.
She's found empathy and compassion at Cancer CAREpoint in San Jose.
"Most of the people understand if you're having a good day or a bad day," she reported.
Gay Crawford co-founded Cancer CAREpoint three years ago. The nonprofit provides free support services for patients and their families so they need not go through cancer alone.
"This is a place where they can be safe," Crawford said simply.
A two-time cancer survivor herself, Crawford was first diagnosed in 1974, when there wasn't much support for patients. But she's changed that, through Cancer CAREpoint, designing it to be a warm welcoming place, from the fireplace near the entry to the personal greeting at the front door. Twenty-five hundred people have used its resources, from exercise and nutrition classes to counseling.
Executive Director Rob Tufel says Crawford touches people in the fight of their lives.
"She understands what they're going through," Tufel said. "And she still makes that personal connection with people."
Over four decades, Crawford started a county program to visit breast cancer patients in hospitals, co-founded California's second hospice, Hospice of the Valley, helped create a statewide registry of new cases, and led the effort to make the new Stanford Cancer Center patient-friendly.
But she's especially proud she began Courageous Kids Day at Great America 27 years ago for hundreds of children with cancer.
"We call it a day away from cancer," she said. "Of course, it really isn't a day away but they come and have a good time."
Jennie Magid cherishes Crawford and her team, years after her husband and daughter died of cancer.
"They're like another family," Magid said. "They embrace you."
"Patients say, 'I walked through that door and I found my home.' Makes it all worthwhile," Crawford added.
So for creating a family of cancer support in Silicon Valley, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Gay Crawford.
