Lindsey Martin-Penny, left, and husband Burke Penny. Mr. Burke is raising $180,000 and climbing, to fund research into clear cell ovarian cancer.Courtesy of family
The organizer: Burke Penny
The pitch: Raising $180,000 and climbing
The cause: To fund research into clear cell ovarian cancer
When Lindsey Martin-Penny was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer in January, 2022, she went through five months of chemotherapy, but nothing worked.
Her oncologist referred her to Dr. Stéphanie Lheureux, an ovarian-cancer specialist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto.
Ms. Martin-Penny and her husband, Burke Penny, lived in Midland, Ont., and they had a Zoom call with Dr. Lheureux. “She was amazing, just really empathetic,” Mr. Penny recalled. “But she said, ‘I don’t really have anything that I can offer you at the moment.’”
Ms. Martin-Penny died a few weeks later, on July 21, 2022. She was 59 years old, a former teacher and a greeting-card designer. She and Mr. Penny had been together for 36 years.
Mr. Penny, 77, was devastated but he wanted to do something to honour his wife. He reached out to Dr. Lheureux and offered to help fund her research. Less than a year later, he set up Lindsey’s Legacy Fund For Clear Cell Ovarian Cancer Research in co-operation with the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.
So far Mr. Penny and his family and friends have raised $180,000, partly through an event called Lindsey’s Legacy Cabaret; A Musical Theatre Showcase. The second annual cabaret will be held in Midland on June 20, which was Ms. Martin-Penny’s birthday.
Mr. Penny has set a target of raising $300,000 this year. He noted that around 300 Canadian women are diagnosed with clear cell ovarian cancer every year. It’s one of the most aggressive forms of cancer and there is no effective treatment.
Dr. Lheureux is already making progress, he added, and he wants her work to continue. “Our vision is that no more lives like Lindsey’s are cut brutally short by clear cell ovarian cancer,” he said.
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