I don’t normally read the sports page, so I missed this bit of news when it appeared in the St. Petersburg Times last week. Dakoda Dowd is going to be a freshman at my old high school, and her mother, Kelly Jo Dowd, died last week of breast cancer. Dakoda is a golfer, and a good one at that, and Kelly Jo’s dream was to see her daughter compete professionally before she did. Kelly Jo made it long enough to see that happen, and passed away this week, despite a double mastectomy and chemo. There’s a big pink ribbon outside of the Cleawater Hooter’s to memorialize Kelly Jo, who was not only a mother and a wife, but a former Hooter’s waitress, calendar girl, and general manager.
Here’s a direct quote from Kelly Jo Dowd:
“I’m in this boat because I waited too long, ” Mrs. Dowd said in an April, 2006 interview. “Like any disease, breast cancer along with it, the sooner you get it, the sooner you can catch it and be done with it. So don’t wait.”
Don’t wait. Don’t lose out on years with your husband and kids and friends and loved ones. Early detection can give you years of living cancer free. I’m 30, and I’ve already started getting mammograms due to a family history of breast cancer.
May 29th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
I read that and was saddened. I’m glad she saw her daughter play in an LPGA event before she died though