“My mom worked in a smoke-filled casino and paid with her life!”

Thursday, May 5, 2011
[The following was posted on Capitol Fax.com by an American Heart Association advocate]

To Illinois legislators:

I would like to tell you my mother’s story. My mother, Cheryl Rose, was a mentor to all she came in contact with, always giving of herself. She was a hero to many and even in death she is helping others.

She worked in the Casino industry for over 20 years. She never smoked and worked out regularly. Yet she was diagnosed with inoperable Stage 4 Lung Cancer in 2008. We were shocked. The only cause we and the doctors could think of was the secondhand smoke at work. She lost her hair, suffered the indignity of terrible facial sores, the weight loss, the loss of her insurance and eventually the loss of her life.

Have you ever had to hold a parent in your arms as they take their last breath at the young age of 62? What would you do if your own children had to go through this with you? And all this could have been prevented through a comprehensive clean air law!

I am asking you to take a stand with me and my mother and to protect the citizens who elected you and trusted you with their lives.

Sincerely,

Buffy McKinney
Cahokia, IL