Fight Back Express brings message of hope

(NECN: Lauren Collins, Manchester, NH) - The American Cancer Society will fund nearly $60 million in research grants at New England hospitals and universities this year alone. Now, the group wants to use the power of the pen to encourage lawmakers to support that funding and to guarantee access to health care for those who are diagnosed with cancer. "I've signed a lot of things as governor, but I never have signed a bus." The same could probably be said by thousands of people who've signed the Fight Back Express since May 4. This bus is on the road, straight up until Election Day, stopping in communities around the country. The sight, which rolled through New Hampshire on Monday, is a reminder of how pervasive and destructive cancer can be. Ann Marie Morse signed the bus in memory of her daughter Michelle. "That smile that you see on the picture behind me, that's how she looked all the time. She never let anybody know just how much she was hurting and just how sick she really was." Michelle was a 22-year-old college student when she died of colon cancer. She had been forced to keep a full course load to stay on her parent's health insurance and get treatment. Her struggle inspired Michelle's Law to keep families out of that Catch 22. But, thousands more Americans are faced with the daily choice between finances and treatment. All of these stories are meant to get to Washington, to send a two-fold message. One, to ensure proper health care for every American and two, to ensure proper research funding so that we can continue to understand and prevent cancer. While the war against cancer is nearly 40 years old, progress toward a cure is incremental and those who fall sick can get frustrated. Hundreds of signatures are added at each stop. The Fight Back Express moves on throughout New England this week.