When I was five years old and my sister Cecily was seven, we were forced to hear the most dreaded news that no child should ever have to hear, “your mother has cancer.” With being so young, we both had trouble understanding what exactly was going on, but we knew that whatever it was, it was not good. Our dad, David, began to explain to us that our mom, Boni, had developed a form of skin cancer, known as melanoma, from too much exposure from the sun. He also told us that the doctors would get rid of the cancer by looking at the hundreds of moles on her skin. Even though it was a difficult time for our family, our resounding hope and faith in God kept us strong. Since then, my mom has had 45+ surgeries (I’ve lost count) and luckily the cancer or precancerous cells have been caught in time before needing any additional treatment.

     This past Christmas (2014), my mom was told that her cancer may have spread and she would need three surgeries to make sure that the doctors got everything. It was a very scary time for my family. We were so incredibly thankful when the results came back as negative for the spread of the cancer. Hopefully for the next few months she will not need any more surgery.

     My mom is truly my role model. She is without a doubt the strongest and kindest person I know. I have seen her struggle everyday, I have seen her rise above the pain, I have seen her inspire so many people to never lose hope. Because of her continued perseverance, I, alongside my sister, have decided to host a 5k in her honor. I want to raise money for the Melanoma Research Foundation so that people all over the world may one day be cured from melanoma.

 

- Lauren Ober, head director/founder of March For Melanoma