Kelly Dowell always saw her dad Joe as a superhero.

The Newcastle resident was driving her dad back home from Swedish Hospital after a chemotherapy treatment for malignant brain cancer when he asked her to stop the car. Joe had spotted a lady on the street loaded down with items and a full shopping cart. He got out of the car to help her with her things.

Kelly was yet again amazed by her father’s charity in light of the fact that he was facing a terminal illness, but that’s the kind of person she said he was.

“I’m thinking to myself most people would feel sorry for themselves or, I mean I would probably,” Kelly said. “I would be like I have brain cancer, I just had a chemo treatment, but he was concerned with helping that woman.”

Joe Dowell passed away from malignant brain cancer on May 12, 2010. Kelly will walk with friends and family in his honor in the 2011 Seattle Brain Cancer Walk Sept. 24 at the Seattle Center.

Each year more than 200,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a primary or metastatic brain tumor, according to the organization. This year approximately 22,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

Joe was diagnosed in 2008 and had about two years with his family before he died, which is typical of most patients.

Surprisingly, brain cancer survival rates have not changed much in the last 100 years, with only three new treatments for brain tumors approved in the last 25 years.

The last treatment, called Avastin, was approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 2009.

There is no cure for malignant brain cancer, but there is hope and efforts are being made to find one.

Started in 2008, the Seattle Brain Cancer Walk has raised more than $800,000 for research, clinical trials and comprehensive care for brain cancer patients in the Pacific Northwest. About 1,200 patients are diagnosed with brain cancer in the Northwest every year.

The first walk after Joe was diagnosed he and his family decided to participate in it. This year Kelly said she and supporters have formed the team “Amazing Joe” of about 15 people to do the walk. She also joined the planning committee and blogs about her experiences for them.

“For me it’s been a healing experience, but it’s also I think it’s helpful for other people when you have brain cancer to know that there’s somebody else that’s there and the support team is huge,” Kelly said.

She has learned a lot as she’s spoken with different family members of those affected by brain cancer.

Joe’s diagnosis came abruptly after he suffered a seizure. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and aggressive type of primary brain cancer. It was the size of an apricot.

His daughter describes him prior to his seizure as a healthy, animated person who loved to play golf and tell jokes.

Kelly remembers looking at her father the day he had his seizure a little bit longer than usual, but she can’t remember what about him caught her attention.

He led a full life Kelly believes because he was given his last rites three times as a youth in his teens because he suffered from another mysterious illness, Stevens Johnson Syndrome, which is a severe skin disorder due to an allergic reaction.

“A part of surviving that made him appreciate life,” she said.

To register for the walk visit www.braincancerwalk.org. The registration fee is $25 before Sept. 22 and $30 after through the walk day.