The Story Behind the Photo

THE TAKE A BREATH FOR KENNY 3K WALK
“He was tough as nails,” Tracey Patton says of her father Ken Patton, who had served as an Edison Township police officer and U. S. Marine. A diagnosis of Stage 3 lung cancer in June of 2006, however, was initially like a “punch in the stomach” to a man who embraced fitness, walked 1-2 miles a day and had quit smoking decades before, she says. Tracey describes his attitude throughout his 20 months of treatment as uncomplaining, upbeat, enjoying life with his family and giving to others as he always had. Tracey chose to read nothing about lung cancer and its fearful statistics and simply to roll with his feeling that he looked good, he felt good, and he was going to beat it.

What Tracey and her four siblings didn’t know was that the cancer had spread. Ken Patton expressed to their mother that his kids just couldn’t know. “He didn’t want to devastate us over something we couldn’t change. He wanted a normal life for us, and for himself, for as long as possible. It was business as usual.”

Ken Patton passed in November, 2007. “He protected his kids. He was a ‘true dad.’ That enhanced my love for him, but I regret the lack of closure when the end came so unexpectedly and so fast. I couldn’t just accept it. I had to do something to keep his memory alive and make him proud,” Tracey states.

Tracey set out to honor him and help other lung cancer patients have a better outcome. What seemed fitting was a walk to fundraise for lung cancer research, which she organized and coordinated. In November, 2008, the anniversary of her Dad’s passing and lung cancer awareness month, 125 people completed a 3K walk at Roosevelt Park to “Take a Breath for Kenny,” raising $7500 for lung cancer research at CINJ.

The experience was healing for Tracey. The support and response was so gratifying that they plan to make the walk an annual event, with the second walk set for this November. “I’m not the same person. I have a new perspective on what’s important. I know my Dad is with me. His strength and selflessness has given me the will to do this.”

Tracey Patton teaches English at Edison High School. She has organized a school club called Care for a Cure, totaling over 50 members who are energetically raising money and awareness at a variety of fundraisers for CINJ.


Featured in the photo: Tracey Patton and her dad Kenny.