Radio personality Kaedy Kiely, co-host of 97.1's The River, had just started treatments for breast cancer when a friend asked her advice for someone who had recently been diagnosed with the same disease.
Kiely was eager to help. She and Marcy Scott, then a 37-year-old marketing director at Atlanta Motor Speedway, exchanged emails and phone calls.
They shared what they were going through with chemo.
They talked about losing their hair and the unexpected toll that chemo can do to the body while at the same time healing it.
They talked about being afraid.
“It’s mostly the fear of not knowing what was going to happen,’ said Kiely, who been cancer free for more than eight years.
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Then one day the two were at a yoga class at a cancer wellness center in Atlanta. They had gone to the kitchen for a break when Scott approached Kiely. It was their first face-to-face meeting.
“We both burst into tears,” said Kiely. “We were just crying and laughing and hugging.”
Their friendship deepened.
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In a blog post about Scott, Kiely said that her friend was improving. Her hair had grown back, she was eating healthier and getting physically fit. After more than a dozen surgeries, Scott was getting her life back.
Or so they thought.
“Marcy was celebrating her life with a trip to D.C. when one side of her body suddenly became paralyzed,” Kiely writes. “ She was diagnosed with a dime-sized brain tumor which had metastasized from her breast cancer. Although the tumor was successfully removed, a spinal tap showed the cancer had spread.”
Scott died on Nov. 1, 2013.
Four years ago, Kiely created Marcy’s Mulligan in her memory.
Each year, the nonprofit hosts a golf tournaments to raise money and awareness about breast cancer.
This year, the event will be held on Monday at Fairways of Canton, 400 Laurel Canyon Parkway in Canton.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the tournament starts at 10 a.m.
Through the Atlanta Motor Speedway's Children's Charities, the beneficiary for this year's tournament will be Camp Sunshine, which offers recreational, educational and support programs to young cancer patients and their families.
“I just want people to know there’s free support out there,” said Kiely. “These things should be on the tip of everyone’s tongue. I want to help survivors survive. Marcy was the inspiration.”
So far, the nonprofit has raised more than $150,000.
“Marcy was just very bright and self motivated,” said Kiely. “She could take care of herself. She was a great example of what women can do for themselves. We can wll learn from her.”
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