Community Corner

Man Starts Cancer Charity After Losing Wife

Vernon Murphy started One Run Together after his wife passed away from cancer in 2009.

Vernon Murphy hadn’t slept in days.  Actually, if he thought about it, it was probably more like months.

In 2007, his wife Beth’s cancer returned.  The doctors said it was back this time for good.  It had metastasized.  It was eating away at her spine.

“She did okay with the chemo the first year,” Murphy said.  “But things started to go downhill with the pain.”

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Murphy added, “She never complained.  She had tremendous strength.  At the end she was on so many painkillers that the nurses said that those should have led to her death.”

On Nov. 13, 2009, Beth Murphy lost her battle with cancer.

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“Several months later I was still struggling,” Murphy said.  “I was having trouble sleeping, and a friend suggested I start running.  I hated running, but I said to myself I might as well try.”

The next day Murphy ran.  He ran the day after that, and then the day after that.  Everyday he ran, until it became a habit.

“I thought about what I could’ve done differently,” Murphy said.  “I thought about what I needed to do for my kids.  I would talk to God.”

Murphy added, “I would ask God what is the plan here?  Why did this happen?  What am I supposed to do? I have a very strong faith in God and knew He had a plan, just did not understand what."

The running stuck.  Murphy started sleeping again. 

“The running made me so tired,” Murphy said.  “I had to sleep.”

A few months after he started running Murphy also lost his job.  His company closed up shop.

“I thought that now was my chance to create something,” Murphy said. 

Murphy joined forces with a friend, and created One Run Together, a non-profit that helps cancer patients with expenses related to treatment.

“We help with living expenses, child care, transportation,” Murphy said.  “We knew what it’s like to go through that, and you can see the tangible effect that help like that has.”

One Run Together hosts races to raise funds, but they also have spaghetti dinners and other events to get people involved.

They incorporated in Aug. 2011; they held their first run in February 2012, and currently they help 11 cancer patients in Chester County with three more scheduled to come on board in the next month.

“I know this is what I am supposed to do now,” Murphy said.  “I had lots of help while my wife was sick, and now I have the chance to help other people.  I know what they’re going through.”

One Run Together is a small operation.  Murphy runs it out of his house with his daughter-in-law and a friend.

He says that he doesn’t make any money off of it, and that it’s his fulltime work.  After he was laid-off, he never went back to work.

“I don’t worry about it,” Murphy said.  “Everyone’s been very supportive.  They all know that this is my passion.”

Since he started One Run Together, Murphy has won the Paoli Cancer Center’s Community Partners Award, and he has plans to grow the organization out into Chester’s neighboring counties.

“Cancer affects the community,” Murphy said.  “The best way to fight it is as a community.”

Murphy added, “I don’t know how this will all end up, but I also don’t worry about it.  I feel calm when I think about it.  I have faith that it’s going to go somewhere huge.”

For more information about One Run Together, please visit their website at www.oneruntogether.org.  There is also a calendar of events and links to donate money or volunteer.


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