While all forms of cancer remain horrific to victims and families alike, it sometimes too awful to remember what it was like for a loved one with a serious prognoses had to endure in the 1970s. Many women during that time agreed to be treated with cobalt radiation for Hodgkin’s disease, well aware of the high probability of developing breast cancer down the road.
One of those women was Bonnie Hilghman, the young bride of Duane, who discovered she had Hodgkin’s six months into her new marriage. And like so many other women of the era, Bonnie found herself surviving Hodgkin’s but later developing breast cancer, which ultimately resulted in her death on August 10, 2004.
For over twenty-five years Bonnie and Duane, battled cancer together with countless trips to Johns Hopkins, painful treatments, but also the economic and emotional stress of being away from work as medical bills mounted. In his Spy interview, Duane still vividly remembers those days. He also talks steps to work with the Mid-Shore Community Foundation to honor Bonnie’s memory with a fund dedicated to victims and families dealing with the same kind of acute stress the Hilghmans experienced. Since the Bonnie Hilghman Cancer Fund at the MSCF was established, close to two hundred families have received financial grants with grants to, he was determined to honor her memory.
And on October 1 at the Hog Neck Golf Course, the 8th Annual Bonnie Hilghman Cancer Fund Golf Tournament begins at 8:45 AM.
For more information about the Bonnie Hilghman Cancer Fund and the golf tournament, please contact Duane Hilghman @ 410-310-7696 for details or on Facebook here
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