Mike Opelka joins us as the crew continues raising funds for the American Cancer Society, with listener donations and personal stories arriving throughout the morning. We recognize a listener who survives breast cancer twice and discuss the importance of access to mammograms and medical care. Mike joins Nick, Dawn and Greg for another discussion of the Lindsey Graham allegations, Vivek Ramaswamy's attack advertisement and the increasingly personal nature of political campaigns. The conversation gets much lighter when we challenge Mike and Nick to guess celebrity birthdays, including Meghan McCain, Ryan Reynolds, Doug Flutie, Weird Al Yankovic and Johnny Carson.
We welcome Amanda Kuhl, former Miss Delaware and wife of former MLB pitcher Chad Kuhl, for an emotional conversation about her battle with breast cancer. Amanda describes discovering a lump during a routine medical appointment while preparing to expand her family. At just 30 years old, she receives a stage-three diagnosis, undergoes a double mastectomy and faces chemotherapy and radiation. We hear how Chad steps away from professional baseball opportunities to remain with his family, while genetic testing reveals an ATM mutation that prompts further testing for Amanda's mother. Amanda encourages younger women to know their bodies, pay attention to changes and speak with medical professionals when something seems wrong. We also discuss the growing attention surrounding breast cancer diagnoses among younger women.
We close the hour with one of our most emotional interviews as WPHT colleague John Gentile joins us to discuss losing his wife, Krysten, to metastatic breast cancer at age 40. John shares the difficult decisions they face during her pregnancy, the birth of their third son, the creation of the podcast Making the Breast of It with Andy Sealy and the challenges of raising three boys following Krysten's death. He credits his family, friends and colleagues for helping him keep his sons moving forward. In one of the morning's most powerful moments, John shares three lessons from Krysten's own words: look for the good in people, live without expectations of others and leave people better than you found them.
We continue our special Go Pink broadcast by welcoming Josh Walker, Regional Vice President of the American Cancer Society, for a detailed discussion about the fight against breast cancer and the importance of community support. Josh shares encouraging progress, including a 44 percent decline in breast cancer deaths since 1989, while stressing that far too many people still miss potentially lifesaving cancer screenings. We discuss younger women receiving breast cancer diagnoses, the importance of understanding individual risk and the need to make screening more accessible. Josh explains how the American Cancer Society supports research while also helping people who are facing cancer right now through programs such as Philadelphia's Hope Lodge and Road To Recovery transportation assistance. We also discuss the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event at Bellevue State Park in Delaware, the NFL's Crucial Catch initiative and the Philadelphia Eagles' involvement in cancer awareness.
