Daughter Saves Family's Life
Bill and Val A. are the proud parents of a bright young daughter. Their daughter, Miss A, is the recipient of a few prestigious awards related to radon mitigation education. Her interest sparked when Miss A. had learned about toxic radon gas at school. She then decided to pursue information independently. What she found worried her, and it soon became her passion to educate others on the effects of toxic radon gas.
In her research, the young Miss A. learned that radon is the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smoking individuals, and roughly 21,000 people in the United States die annually due to radon-caused lung cancer. Other radon research reveals that Iowa and Illinois are both high risk states for radon gas.
The impassioned Miss A. decided to do something about it. She designed a creative educational poster for Illinois’s annual Radon Poster Contest. The contest, designed to encourage radon education throughout the state of Illinois, is sponsored by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and the American Lung Association in Illinois (ALA-IL).
With over 500 entries accepted in the statewide poster contest, Miss A’s poster placed first (pictured in this article). After such an incredible accomplishment, young Miss A. didn’t think it would get much better from there. It did. Miss A’s poster was sent on to the National Radon Action Month Poster Contest sponsored by the American Lung Association. Here, Bill and Val’s talented daughter placed 3rd amongst hundreds of entries from all over the United States! Great job, Miss A!
Despite the successes, and the knowledge that she was helping educate others, Miss A. knew there was more that she could do. With concern for her family and her community, Bill and Val’s daughter came to them, encouraging them to test their Byron home, and soon. The home’s test results came back with a radon level more than 15 times greater than the EPA’s acceptable level! Immediately, the family took action, and called MidAmerica Basement Systems. Now, their home is radon free, thanks to the education the young Miss A. provided to her parents.