Cancer has touched so many of us personally or through our loved ones. We must come together in a continuing effort to fight this terrible disease.

The Lisa Coristine Brave Heart Foundation was formed in 2002 after 25 year-old Lisa Coristine was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that began in her sinuses. After a 3-year struggle, 4 surgeries and endless hours of treatment, Lisa sadly lost her battle with the horrible disease.

The Lisa Coristine Brave Heart Foundation, is now entering its fifth year of fundraising for The Princess Margaret Hospital. Funds raised through the foundation will support a $2 million chair in radiation therapy research at PMH, one of the world’s premier cancer centers. Targeted radiation is a lifesaving program that is helping to increase the cure rate of numerous forms of cancer, while dramatically reducing the debilitating side effects of treatment. This is particularly crucial in treating children and young adults who are faced with cancer.

Although Lisa is no longer with us, her family and friends are left with a tremendous sense of gratitude, because targeted radiation allowed Lisa to live her life to the fullest in spite of her illness. With fewer side effects to combat, Lisa traveled the world during her final years; climbing the Great Wall of China, running on the beach in Mexico, and living with a sense of adventure and hope- hope for a healthy future.

Lisa spent a great deal of time at PMH during the course of her illness. While she was certainly a young patient, she understood that she was not the youngest patient who had ever endured cancer treatments. She was deeply moved by the fact that many children also fight cancer there, and that they stand to benefit the most from future developments in radiation therapy. This is why she believed so strongly in the mission of the Brave Heart Foundation, which now bears her name as a tribute to her courage, her kindness, and her indomitable spirit.