Helene Neville (centre) stops for a photo outside Swirls Ice Cream in Medicine Hat alongside local residents.--Submitted Photo
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
Athlete, author and stage 4 cancer survivor Helene Neville made her way through Medicine Hat early this week as she follows Terry Fox’ planned route across Canada.
Neville, a U.S. resident, started her long-distance running career in 2010 with a run from California to Florida, which is where she discovered her love for these long journeys, visiting hospitals, cancer centres and more along her way.
She’s completed several runs, including covering a 13,85- mile trip, traversing the United States and parts of Canada and Mexico. And in 2018 she became only the second person and first woman ever to run the perimeter of the U.S.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she served as a travel nurse in New Mexico, assisting a vulnerable and underserved community before being transferred to Bismarck, North Dakota. It was there she would end up receiving her cancer diagnosis.
“Seven weeks into that assignment, I collapsed and I was given two months to live,” said Neville, explaining that she was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which had already metastasized to her liver, spleen, long bones, pelvis, blood and bone marrow. Cancer treatment was delayed due to the pandemic, but against all odds, she managed to beat her cancer and will be celebrating her 65th birthday soon.
“I don’t know how I survived. I thank my family, especially my grandkids,” said Neville.
Since then, she has done several runs, including crossing the Golden Gate Bridge repeatedly for a total of 26.2 miles. She has also raised money for her oncologist, who is now facing a terminal cancer diagnosis as well.
“When I run, I try to inspire people and offer hope just by showing up. I think people really want to be a part of something, and I’m all about inclusion and recognizing, really acknowledging other people’s presence. But we’re all one community, no matter where we live,” said Neville.
Neville says she started her tracing of Fox’s route on May 1 this year, and made it as far as Fort Frances, Ont. before an injury forced her to delay her plans.
“I broke both feet,” said Neville. “I was at home crying my eyes out with my feet elevated, and I took a month off to heal. I started again on June 17.”
She has thoroughly enjoyed her time in Canada, and says the people here have been incredibly kind to her as she’s made her way through the provinces, be it honking and cheering as she runs past, or by sharing time and food with her along her route.
She joked that she may be the only runner to run across the country and manage to gain weight, as the people she’s met have been feeding her so well as she gets to know them and their stories.
Neville does not have any major corporate sponsors, nor does she have an entourage taking the journey with her as she spends the night at various campgrounds across the country, thinking about the legacy of Terry Fox and everyone affected by it to this day.
“It’s a privilege and an honour to be out there and be able to be out there,” said Neville. “When people pass away, like my brother, like Terry Fox, that age is forever their age. So now he’s kind of like a son, even though he would have been two years older than me.”
It is her hope that, likewise, in some way, she might be able to inspire others as well, since if she can go from being incredibly ill to running across the country, others may feel emboldened to make an impact in the lives of those around them, as well. This is partially why her book focuses on the people and experiences that follow her run, instead of the running itself.
Those interested can learn more about her various runs on heleneneville.com, and donate to her fundraising efforts for cancer research at spot.fund/3597rxvdc.
“The spirit of humanity is out there, alive and well. You just have to let down your fear and have faith,” said Neville.
