Susan Broadbridge
1st Year Recipient
University of Southern Mississippi
My name is Susan Broadbridge. I am the daughter David and Melanie Broadbridge. Right before my sophomore year at St. Scholastica Academy, I discovered something that would change my life. I am part of the cross country and track team at SSA. It was a Thursday morning run, during the summer before my sophomore year, when I realize I could not keep up with my teammates. I was so out of breath and I knew that I was not that much out of shape because I had just finished up the track season. That was the first sign that told me something was wrong. We got some blood work done and found out that I was very anemic. One thing led to another and they found a growth on the outside of my colon. I had surgery that June and it was August when I found that I needed chemotherapy. The growth turned out to be a cancerous soft tissue sarcoma tumor. I had to go through five rounds of chemotherapy. To me, it just all went by so fast that I never really stopped to think about it. I looked at it as something I just had to do because we all go through a hard patch in life. The day we found out about the Chemo treatments, I remember going back to school and talking to my coach about trying to still run while going under chemo treatments. He was very supportive of me staying on the team because he thought it would help me physically and mentally. Which it very much did! Even though I couldn’t run everyday with the team, I tried my best on the days I was there. I was so surprised and happy about how my teammates helped me through the whole process. They were very supportive and were surprised of how well I was doing during practice. Running helped me finish strong, it helped my heart grow stronger, and it helped me have the support of my coaches and teammates. I couldn’t have just gone home everyday and just think how I was missing out on practice and being with my team. Once I was done with chemotherapy I realized how running had saved my life, and made me a stronger person. Cancer has showed me to never give up and to keep on doing the things that you love to do in life. In the future I will continue to keep on running, especially in road races that help raise money for cancer patients. I love to run and running for something you have experienced with other people is a great way to communicate with them. I am attending the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall and majoring in photojournalism. Cancer has impacted my future by how I am so inspired about photography and how a picture can tell a story. In the future I would love to be a photojournalist and capture different stories through photographs. I know that I have a story to tell, and can’t wait to see how I can learn other people’s stories. I look forward to a bright future and to accomplish my many goals. Cancer has taught me to be a stronger person and to live life in a positive way.
