Angela's Allies / Alliés d'Angela

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Angela Stief Lea was a life-long health advocate and a New Brunswicker who lived with radon-induced lung cancer. 

Angela's Allies is a community fund established in her honour to help address the financial barriers to radon testing.

• a $60 donation delivers on long-term radon test kit to a New Brunswicker in need.
• a $150 donation provides one electronic radon detector kit to a community centre or library through our lending program. 
• ... or, simply give what you can! 100% of Angela's Allies funds are used in support of radon action for underserved, marginalised, and vulnerable community members.  
  
  

This is Angela's story: 

Angela Stief Lea was a health conscious, non-smoking 57 year old physiotherapist who recently received a terminal diagnosis of lung cancer. Faced with a prognosis of just a few months, she decided to use her newfound knowledge of lung cancer-causing radon gas to raise awareness in the small community of Havelock. Sadly, Angela passed away on April 18, 2024.

Radon gas is naturally occurring and is in all homes in Canada at varying levels. New Brunswick, based on its geology, has some of the highest rates of dangerous levels of radon in the country. You can’t see, taste, or smell radon, but you can measure it.

A lifelong health advocate, Angela told everyone she knew about radon, urging her neighbours to obtain a home radon test kit. The results of the tests can be compared to Health Canada’s action levels to determine if the homeowner should complete renovations to remove the radon. Health Canada recommends radon mitigation be conducted within 1 year if the level is above 600 Bq/m3 (becquerels per cubic meter) or within 2 years is the levels is between 200 and 600 Bq/m3. No remediation is indicated at levels below 200 Bq/m3.

Jeff LeBlanc, of Radon Repair in Moncton, measured the level of radon in Angela’s home, and it maxed out his instrument, displaying 9,999 Bq/m3 making this the highest radon results he’s seen in his career.

Once high radon is found with a home radon test, simple renovations are effective at removing the radon from the home. This mitigation work can prevent lung cancer. Angela is urging her friends, neighbours, and relatives to test their homes, and wants everyone in the community to be aware of this silent cancer risk.

NB Lung's tests show that around 1 in 4 homes in the province have unsafe radon levels.