Oxygen Tank and COPD Won't Keep Woman from Omaha Corporate Cup

This September, Linda Jewell will compete in the American Lung Association in Nebraska’s Fight For Air Corporate Cup powered by Green Plains, Inc. along with thousands of runners and walkers. What makes Jewell unique? She will participate with her walker while carrying an oxygen tank.

Jewell has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a chronic lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe. With only 30 percent lung function, she will walk the 2-mile Corporate Cup course alongside her 11-year-old grandson, Michael Loomis, and her trainer, William Roden.

“When I walk, I know that people who are running by me are running for people who suffer from lung disease or who have died from lung disease,” said Jewell. “I walk to show other people with lung disease that they can do this, too.”

On March 10, 2014, Jewell was hospitalized for 11 days due to extreme shortness of breath. It was at this time she was diagnosed with COPD.

“I was breathless all the time. It got worse and worse and worse. One morning, I barely managed to get in the shower and wash my hair, but didn’t have the energy to dry my hair,” said Jewell. “It [COPD] is like going under water and you can see the top to get air, but you can’t swim up to get that air. You are suffocating. Early diagnosis of COPD is very important, because you can slow the progression of the disease with proper medical care.”

She decided that she was going to do something to keep herself active and saw an advertisement for the Corporate Cup. The upcoming event will be her third time participating and she will wear a COPD shirt in an effort to eliminate stigma associated with lung disease.

“Every year it’s more difficult to breathe, but all I can do is walk. I am trying to live. I live with this disease and will die with this disease, but I am not going to die from this disease,” said Jewell. “While smoking is one of the major causes of COPD, many people who suffer from it never smoked. Secondhand smoke and many other pollutants contribute to the pervasiveness of this disease. There should be no disease shaming because someone smoked. I do the Corporate Cup to reduce disease shaming.”

The Corporate Cup is a 10K and 2-mile run/walk is the Lung Association’s signature fundraising event and is one of the largest corporate road races in the United States. Each year, the event attracts more than 5,000 participants from all over the region. More information and registration for the Corporate Cup is available at OmahaCorporateCup.org or by calling 402-502-4950.