In Loving Memory: Honoring Members of the ALK+ Community
This page honors members of the ALK Positive community who have passed from ALK-positive cancer. Each person remembered here helped shape this community through their courage, their advocacy, and the care they showed for others walking the same path. Their lives mattered deeply to the people around them and to the progress this community continues to pursue.
These tributes are shared with permission from their families so their stories may continue to inspire others. While they are no longer with us, their impact lives on through the connections they built, the hope they gave to others, and the research and progress their voices helped move forward.
Help Us Honor Your Loved One
If you would like to have your loved one included on this page, please complete the memorial submission form below.
We will review each submission and publish tributes with the permission of families. Our goal is to ensure every story is shared with care, accuracy, and respect.
Beau Bolton
1982-2023
Beau was an avid outdoorsman, and fishing was his absolute lifelong passion. After his diagnosis, he treasured meeting fellow ALK+ community members and had the chance to attend a LUNGevity conference shortly after his diagnosis. He also was passionate about participating in the White Ribbon Project. He and his widow were both incredibly grateful for all the support from ALK+ lung cancer warriors all over the country.
Jaden Southard
2001-2024
Jaden was diagnosed in October 2023 at 22 years old and fought a very brave battle with his disease. Unfortunately, his cancer was extremely aggressive and he only lived nine months after his diagnosis.
Jaden loved music and was a talented guitar player who was in the process of starting a band at the time of his diagnosis. He was the type of guy that would drive his little brother out to the coast two hours away at the last minute so he could visit his girlfriend. Jaden was funny, bright, and always smiling. He fought his illness with tremendous bravery and is missed immensely by his friends and family.
Myna Kota
1979-2024
Myna Kota, beloved daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, and colleague, passed away on April 30, 2024, at age 44 after a difficult and courageous battle with Stage 4 primary lung cancer.
Myna was born on July 16, 1979, to Geetha and Satya Kota in Toronto, Canada, the city which remained her lifelong home. She graduated from Oakville Trafalgar High School and later completed an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Toronto’s Victoria College.
Myna dedicated her life to nonprofit and healthcare advocacy at Goodwill, Girl Guides of Canada, and most recently Casey House in Toronto. She cared deeply about advocating for girls and women and was a passionate supporter of underserved communities. Myna was well known and widely respected in the Canadian nonprofit sector and served as a Board Member and Vice Chair of the Ontario Nonprofit Network.
Myna loved nature, hiking, traveling, and visiting her niece and nephew in New York City. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
With each life remembered here, we also remember those whose names are not listed.
The individuals remembered on this page represent only a small portion of the many people around the world who have lost their lives to ALK-positive cancer. Behind every name is a family, a circle of friends, and a community forever changed by their loss.
We honor their lives and carry their stories forward as we continue the work to advance research, support patients and families, and move closer to a future where fewer families must experience this loss.
