Patty Gemmill

I am from the United States, currently living in the lovely state of Florida. My husband and I lived in Charlotte, North Carolina for 38 years, raising two boys there. They are both married and raising their own kids. We have 6 grandkids now, that keeps us young, busy and traveling. Although I worked in an Arts and Crafts gallery for many years, I spent a lot of my time volunteering in a lot of diverse areas. Student art camps, leading bible studies, fighting against human trafficking, and most recently for the Sea Turtle Preservation Society.

Volunteering led me to meet an amazing friend, and we were friends for many years before she was diagnosed with lung cancer. As a friend there is little you can do except be there and sometimes make chicken pot pies. But I did watch her journey through her diagnosis, breaking it to her family, surgery, and unfortunately not receiving vital information from her team about biomarkers. This prompted Terri to start an organization called KRAS Kickers. It is a patient advocacy group, bringing people together online sharing information, experiences and support. Which led me to a new volunteer position.

In 2023 I was invited to join the board of directors for KRAS Kickers after several years of volunteering at patient events, and professional (ASCO) and research (AACR conferences in addition to moderation of the Facebook community. It is inspiring to able to help connect patients to Knowledge, Research, to Advocate for Survivorship. Truly make a difference empowering patients globally.