ABOUT

The very last words you ever want to hear…you have cancer. Our lovely Lindsay heard those devastating words at the young age of 27 after going to the hospital complaining of a stomach ache. Hearing Lindsay share this news with her parents, sister, niece, fiancé, and 4 year old son was heart wrenching. While we all fell to pieces around her, Lindsay never lost hope. Carrying on this hope for patients, families, and researchers on their journey to becoming cancer free is the goal of Lindsay’s Legacy Foundation.

Lindsay never stopped believing in the power of hope even though everything doctors tried did not halt the rapid progression of her disease. When the local hospital exhausted every option that was available to them, they reached out to Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven which accepted Lindsay into a clinical trial of a new drug. This drug, Astellas Xospata (now FDA approved), gave her the opportunity to finally leave the confines of a hospital and return home to her son – and to do the things we all take for granted – tucking your children in at night, eating dinner at the table with your family, even just having the blessing of feeling the warm sun on your face.

On July 10^th, 2017 Lindsay lost her battle but her hope lives on. Lindsay’s Legacy Foundation brings hope to those who need it most. Her mom, sister, and fiance moved into the hospital during the worst 16 months of our lives and it meant the world to Lindsay, and gave us insight into the needs of patients and families firsthand. In her final days she asked us to write the words Be Happy on her hospital chart for all to see. She was very happy not having to fight anymore and wanted us all to relish the things in life that we all take for granted. The goal of our Be Happy events at the Villages at Poquonock is to give others the hope that Lindsay received from the Smilow Cancer Center’s clinical drug trial.