Christy Lacy’s Story

In high school, I met the person that is now my husband. When we were first dating, I would go over to his house and his stepdad, Brad, would always give me such a hard time. He would tease and make fun of me, and I really thought that he didn’t like me at all. I wasn’t used to that type of teasing and so I took it very personally. When my husband told his dad that I thought he didn’t like me, he sat me down and explained to me that was how he showed his love. He said, “The only reason I tease you so much is because I like you!”

From that point on we had a great relationship built on mutual teasing. I learned quickly to give it back to him 10 times harder than he gave it to me. Brad was such an amazing person. Funny, full of life and he truly never met a stranger. That man could talk! He was constantly telling stories or jokes and singing jingles. He ultimately developed melanoma and passed away in 2007 after a grueling battle at the age of 59. It was devastating watching him go through that because it was my first experience seeing someone that I loved and cared about battle cancer.

At the time of his diagnosis there really weren’t any good treatment options for him. One of the first trials that I worked on when I started at Mary Crowley Cancer Research in 2010 was a Melanoma study. It showed great results in the clinical trial and the drug is now on the market.

I feel so proud to have been a tiny piece of the study that is now helping save so many lives. Mary Crowley continues to help advance clinical research and get lifesaving therapies on the market. Brad was gone way too soon, but it makes me happy knowing that I work for a company that is making a difference in people’s lives every day.