Superior Women-run nonprofit organization is working to help breast cancer survivors make fitness a part of their recovery journey.
Superior Women-run nonprofit organization is working to help breast cancer survivors make fitness a part of their recovery journey.
Lindsay Marcelli started Compete for a Cure, which raises money through CrossFit competitions and awards grants to both survivors and gyms.
“Our goal is to just meet survivors where they are and see if they can thrive,” she said.
Heather Souders of Poplar had her membership paid for CrossFit Shipwreck in Superior.
“When you have a double mastectomy and gain weight, you don’t feel good about yourself at all,” she says.
She was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2018. Souders’ aunt had died of breast cancer, and she discovered the lump during a routine self-examination. Her husband was deployed at the time, so she didn’t tell him right away. She came in for tests and her doctor scheduled a mammogram. Then they sent her for an ultrasound, then a biopsy, all in one day.
“Then two days later I got a call and was told that yes, I had triple-negative breast cancer,” she said.
The Air Force quickly brought her husband home, and she began chemotherapy within a week. She also underwent a double mastectomy and hysterectomy in 2019. She has been cancer-free since then.
“Before I had breast cancer, I was very active5 and always had a passion for fitness,” she said. And of course I was very tired during treatment, so I wasn’t very active. ”
But she was ready for a change and heard that CrossFit Shipwreck had just opened. That’s how she connected with Compete for a Cure, which resulted in grants for both her and Jim.
“That allowed us to provide equipment to help Heather,” said Kyle Ackman, owner of CrossFit Shipwreck. “I was also able to get a lot of education online, free education, which was also very helpful.”
Compete for a Cure has an online course called “Breast Cancer Fundamentals.”
“All of their coaches took the course as soon as they found out it was available, printed the certificates and helped Heather out,” Marcelli said.
Heather discovered what many other survivors have: that she is not broken and that her body can do difficult things.
Related article: Breast cancer fitness seen at Baihly Warfield Elevator Superior
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