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Cancer survivor to model hope, awareness at NYC Gala
NATALIE PEACOCK
Legal News Reporter
Published: February 7, 2013
Lisa Craine of northeast Ohio will be strolling the runway today as a model in the PLITZS NYC Fashion Show Charity Fundraising Gala in New York City. It isn’t an opportunity she would have chosen under normal circumstances she says, but Craine is a cancer survivor who is joining other cancer survivors from around the country to help raise money and awareness.
In September 2010, Craine 48, was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a very rare form of liver cancer. After the initial shock, she said she went looking for answers.
“When I was diagnosed, I started looking for people that I could possibly connect with,” Craine said. “One day I found this website called ‘Yes! Beat Liver Tumors’. I started searching the site and ended up making friends with the co-founder, Suzanne Lindley.”
Yes! Beat Liver Tumors is a non-profit organization that provides information, education, support, options and hope for patients living with liver cancers.
“I’ve made a lot of friends through this organization,” Craine said. “It’s a great source to share treatments, survivor tips and coping skills. So far it’s just been a great network of other cancer survivors to be a part of.”
Suzanne Lindley, a fellow cancer survivor, shared the story of Yes! with Wayne Shields, the CEO of PLITZS Fashion Week, hoping to do an exhibit at a fashion show. Shields had been leery of non-profits but wanted to work with one with “a lot of heart.” After talking with Lindley, Shields said he wanted to help.
“He said that our cause really touched his heart because he had lost family members to cancer,” Lindley said. “He’s very imaginative and creative. So the event actually evolved into doing our own fashion show.”
After posting the fashion gala event on the Yes! Facebook page, Lindley thought Craine would be the perfect candidate to model in the gala.
“Lisa has an incredible story,” Lindley said. “She has a very, very rare form of liver cancer. She’s just an incredible advocate for awareness and for making sure that others don’t feel alone. She always lets people who have been diagnosed know that there is support for them.”
When she makes her debut as a runway model, Craine will be wearing a gown made by celebrity dress designer Dalia McPhee. McPhee designs dresses for top celebrities for award shows and red carpet events.
“The connection to Dalia came through Suzanne Lindley,” Craine said. “Dalia has been donating gowns and dresses to Yes! for a couple of years now. She has a really philanthropic heart and a soft spot for cancer patients.”
Lindley said she knew that McPhee would be a great match for Craine for the fashion gala.
“I’ve known Dalia’s family for years,” Lindley said. “Her father was one of our (Yes!) members. She has donated dresses to us over the years for many special events. She loved Lisa’s story and wanted to make Lisa feel incredibly special.”
Craine is looking forward to wearing McPhee’s dress at the big event.
“My dress has already arrived and it is gorgeous,” Craine said. “Dalia donates a lot of beautiful dresses for this organization. She’s just a very sweet designer with a big heart.”
The fashion gala will include a dinner and an auction. Some of the survivors will share their stories followed by the fashion show. Craine did some modeling in college and says she is not concerned about taking it to the next level in New York.
“I’m not nervous about modeling and I don’t mind speaking in public,” she said. “I am a little nervous to tell my story because it’s so personal. I think that makes it harder to get up and talk in front of people, when you’re really telling something that is from your heart and has been painful and difficult to go through.”
Not only will Craine be modeling in the gala but she will also be attending the other shows and events during Fashion Week.
“We have also been given VIP passes and tickets to all the other fashion shows for us and our guests, whoever comes with us,” Craine said. “My best friend is coming with me. We both love New York City so it will be a lot of fun.”
Craine’s upbeat attitude about cancer comes in part from her family. She and her husband David thought long and hard about how they could turn her cancer diagnosis into a positive. They arrived at three ideals that they thought were the most important.
“One was to really strengthen our faith and the faith of others,” she said. “The second was to help raise money for cholangiocarcinoma because it is such a rare cancer that there is very little research and very little clinical trials on this type of cancer.”
Craine and her husband started a fund with the Akron Community Foundation called Craine’s Cholangiocarcinoma Crew and last year raised over $15,000 for research. Their first fundraiser was through the Akron Marathon. Besides funds, Craine said she really wants to be able to provide hope to other cancer patients.
“Third, we wanted to provide hope to others because when I was diagnosed I was given a six-month prognosis and it’s now been over two years and I’m still here,” she said. “No one really knows how long our time here on earth is, so you can either choose to curl up in a ball and cry all the time or you can choose to live and we chose the second option.”
Craine’s sons support her desire to share her own story and help others.
“I have two sons, a 21-year-old and a 15-year-old,” she said. “They’re really excited and they’re really proud. I think the thing that they’re most proud of is that I really try to look at cancer as a blessing. I try to find all the good things that have come out of it, like meeting great people and really appreciating the little things in life. And I look at this fashion show and this opportunity to go to New York as one of those perks.”
Craine says that she wants this fashion gala and her experiences with cancer to demonstrate one thing.
“Cancer is not a death sentence,” she said. “it is really an opportunity to live.”
For more information on Yes! Beat Liver Tumors, visit www.beatlivertumors.org or for information on Craine’s Cholangiocarcinoma Crew visit, www.crainescancercure.org.