Improving Life – it’s in our DNA is more than just a clever tagline, it’s the guiding principle that founded Allentown more than 51 years ago, and the yardstick by which, to this day, we measure success in everything we do.
It’s too big of a message – too big a story really – to be told in just one, or just a small number of ways; or to be fully captured with just the written word. We understood from the beginning that, to fully communicate the scope and power of this message, we needed our community to see and hear the real-life stories of people who had benefited from the work that we, and all us, do in the effort to improve and save lives.
And so we created a series of videos to tell these stories. Stories of people who confronted serious illness – in either themselves or loved ones – and triumphed over it with the help of biomedical research. Hearing the subjects of these videos detail their struggle, communicate their fears, and then ultimately share their victories, is a seriously humbling, yet gratifying experience that we hope will remind all of us of the privilege we share to do the work that we do.
One of our stories is centered around a woman named Dana West. About a year ago, Dana’s aunt – who is like a second mother to her – was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent two difficult chemotherapy sessions that saved her life, yet took part of her right leg and left foot. Despite her hard recovery, Dana’s aunt is thankful for the treatments that saved her life, and grateful for the care and effort put forth by the hardworking professionals who made those treatments possible.
But most of all, she’s happy to still be an aunt to her favorite niece. In Dana’s words, when talking about the relationship she shares with her aunt:
Family is everything; it’s the center point of your life. You can’t have a life without family.
To see the video series click here.