Love for Lungs Tennis Tournament

Unfortunately, this year's Love for Lungs event has been cancelled due to the coronavirus. Stay tuned for future upates and events.

The past five years have been an unbelievable success thanks to our sponsors, donors, and players! We have raised over $175,000
in support of the lung research at the University of Maryland's Program in Lung Healing while continuing to raise awareness about pulmonary fibrosis and organ donation.

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I began this tournament in May 2016 in honor of my grandfather and in recognition of the University of Maryland School of Medicine's wonderful staff and the research they were conducting. Our first tournament was incredibly successful, raising $28,000. The following years continued to amaze us. In 2017, we raised $30,000; in 2018, we raised $50,000; and in 2019 we raised over $60,000! We are beyond thankful to our players, sponsors, donors, friends, and family across the counry for their generosity, support, and assistance throughout the years.

All net proceeds will support groundbreaking research at the Program in Lung Healing at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, including: lung regeneration, lung repair, artificial respiration, adult stem cell therapies, and so much more.

Thank you for all for contributing to my efforts to raise research money in memory of my grandfather.

Our story:
On April 17, 2015 my grandfather, Ron Plylar, passed away from a horrible lung disease called pulmonary fibrosis. This aggressive disease causes more deaths per year in the U.S. than breast cancer, however it unfortunately goes misdiagnosed until a lung transplant is no longer an option. Despite visiting numerous top pulmonary physicians across the country, my grandfather's disease continued to go misdiagnosed. He was considered a high-risk transplant candidate due to his age and the severity of his disease. Nevertheless, Dr. Aldo Iacono at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Lung Rescue Unit accepted him as a patient. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away before he could receive a lung transplant.

After his death, we were invited to tour the Program in Lung Healing at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. I was so impressed with the research they were conducting in order to benefit those with lung disease, I wanted to find a way to show my support. I decided to host a tennis tournament to raise awareness about lung disease and support their research. I pray the money raised will allow for the advancement in technology to end the suffering for those with lung disease.

Thank you to all!!
Love,
Abigail Plylar