The Telegraph, Alton, Ill., Dan Brannan column: Fund-raising continues after man's death

Aug 29, 2009 (The Telegraph - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- APLS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Shelly Kozicki never gives up in her push to raise funds for the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.

Shelly and her husband, Craig, have raised more than $150,000 for mesothelioma research over the past decade.

On April 1, Shelly lost her husband after an 11-year struggle with mesothelioma. Today, she lives in St. Charles, Mo., without Craig, who she described as her "soul mate," but she is determined to raise funds to find a cure for mesothelioma.

She and Craig were married for 28 years, meeting when she was 18 and he was 24 at Monsanto in Trenton, Mich. Six weeks after they met, they were engaged.

I came in contact with the St. Charles woman through a series of articles we did about the Simmons law firm and its upcoming move to Alton. John Simmons, owner of the firm, and Mark Motley, a vice president of communications, told me about her brave and difficult struggle with her husband's illness and how she has turned the tragedy into a triumph by raising funds for research into the terrible disease. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of certain internal organs, primarily the lungs, caused by exposure to asbestos.

The Simmons firm represented Craig and Shelly in a lawsuit, and she said the firm now has become like family. Shelly said they always stay in touch with her and assist her with her mesothelioma fund-raising efforts.

"They care," Shelly said. "Jeff Cooper was assigned our case. They were compassionate and treated us with patience. I just didn't feel they were lawyers."

Shelly's other worthy cause is working to build awareness that the United States needs to mandate a total ban of asbestos.

Many other countries have halted asbestos from entering their borders, but the United States is lagging behind, and ultimately, it could cost Americans their lives.

Craig, 53, was a young man when he died with nothing but a bright future ahead. He was a chemical engineer at Solutia in East St. Louis. Shelly told me he always was the love of her life and that she misses him so greatly it sometimes is nearly impossible to continue on. But she does forge ahead each day, with his memory deep inside, hoping to help other families with the cancer.

It is believed that her husband, Craig, was exposed to asbestos when he was a child. Often, the latency period for the disease is 20 to 40 years. In regard to asbestos, Shelly said there is no safe level of exposure. Even a single fiber of asbestos can cause a person to develop this form of cancer.

Craig and Shelly have a daughter, Emily, and when she learned about her father's illness at age 12, she worried whether her father would walk her down the aisle at her wedding. With the help of his wife, Craig survived long enough to walk her down the aisle to her husband, Kyle Steele.

"It was weird that one of her first questions that very first night he was diagnosed was about her father walking her down the aisle when she got married," Shelly said. "Craig pushed himself to stay alive, and after her wedding, he really made a downturn. Emily was definitely a daddy's girl. She was the apple of his eye, and her dad was her hero."

Chris Hahn, the executive director for the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, said Shelly and Craig Kozicki are special people.

"Craig was a symbol of hope that people can live with mesothelioma and that it is not a death sentence," he said. "He showed there are programs and treatment options with the disease. She is definitely an amazingly strong and dedicated person."

Shelly's plan is to not stop the momentum she has started with raising funds for mesothelioma.

"I promised Craig that I would continue," she said. "I now receive phone calls from throughout the nation. I think our story gives hope to people who are dealing with this. People are often still told they have six months to get their affairs in order. There is hope, and there are doctors out there now that can help. This is something I will do until the day I die."

To learn more about Shelly's fund-raising push, visit www.craigkozicki.com or contact her at (636) 284-9881.

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