The Brave and Resilient Survivor
Ileana Collazo
I deeply love and admire two women in my life for their kind hearts, courage, and zest for life.
They both share the experiences of losing a loved one and winning the battle against breast cancer. One is my little sister of the heart; and the other is my younger cousin. The focus of this story is my younger cousin.
My little cousin, whose name I will omit because I do not want to share her private life publicly, was brainy and outgoing from a young age. At age three, a terrible car accident took her father's life as she sat with his head on her lap. As she waited in the dark to be rescued, her mother was lying nearby on the brink of death. Help finally came and later when they arrived at the hospital she gave the personnel my telephone number. All those numerous times she called inviting me to play; I was grateful she remembered my number.
I was fifteen and sick at home the day of that fateful call. As she spoke to me from the hospital emergency room, I could sense the courage in her tiny voice and that she was painfully aware that something terrible had happened and that no one at hospital, except for friendly strangers could care for her. I assured her she would be OK, got all the pertinent details, and began to make phone calls. I could not go to her because she was three hours away. Her aunts arrived by evening, and she called me back to tell me she was finally with family.
She grew up, worked through her early trauma, and lived life to the fullest until she was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after her army husband arrived in Iraq. Once again, several hours away from me, she called to tell me about her diagnosis, and her first concern was that I had a mammogram to ensure I was all right. She made me cry; she thought of me, another woman who could be afflicted instead of just herself.
Aside from being afraid for her life, I was angry that life was putting her through another jarring experience. What is not enough that, at such a young age she had to endure having her father die in her arms while her mother lay on the grass on the brink of death? Had she not experienced enough grief? But, once again, I came face to face with a spunky little warrior who was not about to coward down. She once again showed me her strength and will to fight.
I was also devastated that her husband was so far away and in harm’s way. She was forced to rely on the support of family and friends and the excellent team of doctors and nurses that helped her beat her disease, give her a yearly clean bill of health, and celebrated with her when she crossed the coveted 5-year threshold.
Spunky as she is, she ended up as one of the faces of a cancer campaign sponsored by General Mills, with her photo on the back of Cheerios boxes and an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show from where she was surprised with a live video call to her husband in Iraq; the first interaction she had with him since her diagnosis. She also received countless gifts and applause from a very emotional audience participating in the heart-wrenching show.