Cancer has carved its way into many areas of life for Kelly Englert Flak, MSN, RN, OCN. She is a cancer survivor, a grieving mother who lost her daughter to this disease and an employee at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center who has dedicated her nearly 20-year career to serving patients. Still, Kelly stands by this notion: “Cancer can’t win.”
Each year, we gather at the Ride for Roswell to stand in solidarity with patients, celebrate survivors and remember those we’ve lost. But, at the forefront, we ride with a mission to end cancer. Kelly lives that mission every day. Her unwavering hope and commitment to a better tomorrow are just some of the many reasons she was selected as this year’s Ride for Roswell Torch Lighter, opening the festivities the night before the Ride during the Celebration of Hope. She received dozens of nominations from family members, friends and colleagues.
“The Mayor of Roswell”
Kelly began her career at Roswell Park in 2007. She moved her way up from a staff nurse in the intensive care unit to the clinical nurse manager in the gynecology clinic. “I absolutely love coming to work. A lot of people can’t say that about their job. I have a passion for what I do and a passion for my patients. I like knowing that I can make a difference,” Kelly says.
Her youngest daughter, Kendall, now works at Roswell Park as well. The two often meet for lunch when their shifts align. “Kendall calls me the ‘Mayor of Roswell,’” Kelly laughs. “It’s just because I have been on so many paths on my journey as an employee.” Working at Roswell Park is what makes Kelly, Kelly — even as she battles stage 4 lung cancer. “I worked for eight months on the floor with a chest tube in. I have to. This is my sense of normalcy. This is where I can come and be Kelly, and not be a cancer patient.”
As Kelly fought cancer herself, she also took care of her late daughter Kaitland Sneed. Each step of the way, Kelly’s colleagues offered their compassion and support. “I call them my coworkers, but they’re my family. They have taken care of me, and they’ve embraced Kaitland as part of our family.”
Mother and daughter were diagnosed just months apart
While working a night shift in the ICU, Kelly got a call from Kaitland’s husband. He explained Kaitland was in an ambulance on her way to the hospital after having a seizure. She was just 29 years old and living in Pittsburgh at the time and had no prior symptoms. It didn’t take long for her to be diagnosed with grade 3 astrocytoma, a form of brain cancer. Later, she would receive a second diagnosis: glioblastoma, a more aggressive form of the disease.
Three months after Kaitland’s initial diagnosis, Kelly learned on July 22, 2020, that she herself had stage 4 lung cancer.
The news came after living with what she thought was just “bad allergies” for more than a year. She saw her doctor with complaints of constant sneezing and coughing and they went on a pursuit to figure out the cause but wound up unsuccessful. Kelly learned to live with her discomfort while being redeployed to the ICU during the pandemic. “When I found out, I just felt like my whole world came to an end, but I couldn’t because my daughter was on the same journey with me, and we continued on that journey together. We got each other through.”
Fighting cancer together
Kelly stayed in Pittsburgh for the first two months of Kaitland’s treatment. Once Kaitland started improving, they created a rotating family schedule for visits so Kelly could continue her own treatment in Buffalo. “We called ourselves our cancer buddies because we kind of knew what each other was thinking. If we went to a bad place in our mind, I knew where she was at so I could pull her back out of there and vice versa or taking care of ourselves, remembering to do that. She would look at me and say, ‘Mom, you’re not getting enough rest. You don’t look good.’ Or I would say, ‘Kaitland, you’re pushing yourself too much.’”
Unfortunately, Kaitland's cancer came back after a period of regression. Kelly brought her daughter home to Buffalo so she could continue treatment in a place they both trusted: Roswell Park. Kaitland fought hard in the last months of life before sadly passing away in January 2024, less than a month after her 32nd birthday. Kelly also learned around the same time that her lung cancer had spread to her brain amid a treatment plan of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. However, thanks to targeted therapy — an approach that was decided on after receiving a genetic test — Kelly is now in remission.
At the top of her mind is making sure Kaitland’s life is remembered. “Kaitland was just a wonderful person, so energetic, so full of life. Her personality and her smile. She was just magnetic. You were just drawn to her. She was the kindest person there ever was. There isn’t anything she wouldn’t do for anybody. She was my social butterfly. I want people to remember her name and I want people to know she fought, and she did not let cancer take from her, not even the last year. She fought, she persevered and she was Kaitland. She was not going to let cancer steal from her.”
Why Roswell Park for lung cancer?
We offer treatments at the forefront of cancer care, plus clinicians with the knowledge and experience to use them.
Carrying on Kaitland’s legacy through the ride
Back in 2020, Kelly’s family created a Ride for Roswell team: Flak Pack Family and Friends. It was a way for loved ones to show their support for Kelly and Kaitland, and also a platform to reach others. “It’s not just for the Ride. It’s also to help others who are on their cancer journey because one of our mottoes is nobody fights alone.” Prior to creating Flak Pack, Kelly volunteered at the Ride as a nurse for many years.
Her favorite part is the Peloton. “I get goosebumps every time I see them ride in, knowing that they’re riding for somebody and they’re riding for everybody and just the support that they bring. The whole evening is very emotional. Our family usually goes together and then when they light the torch, that’s the most exciting part. It’s like, ‘All right, let the Ride begin.'”
The cause is close to Kelly’s heart for more reasons than one. But, above all else, she knows the importance of raising funds for cancer research. “Without research, I wouldn't be here. Right now, I am on a medication that was only approved three years ago by the FDA. Three years ago, had I been at the beginning of my journey and had that mutation, I wouldn't be sitting here right now, and I wouldn't be lighting that torch this year. I am thankful to Roswell Park and its research and to everybody who helps donate and put money and funding toward that.”
As Kelly prepares to light the torch during this year’s Celebration of Hope, she laughs that she has “big shoes to fill.” She’s honored to be a part of such an impactful moment, and when she sees the flame, she’ll know Kaitland will, in some ways, still be right by her side rooting her on in the fight against this disease. “I hope she’s looking down on me right now and I want her to be proud of me for continuing to bring cancer into the spotlight in a good way to say, ‘Hey, we can make these changes.' And it takes all of us to make these changes and it’s for the better.”
Editor’s Note: Cancer patient outcomes and experiences may vary, even for those with the same type of cancer. An individual patient’s story should not be used as a prediction of how another patient will respond to treatment. Roswell Park is transparent about the survival rates of our patients as compared to national standards, and provides this information, when available, within the cancer type sections of this website.
