By: Jessica Cihacek
jcihacek@kcautv.com
Why do you race? Maybe your mom, daughter, sister or friend was touched by breast cancer?
Maybe they beat it. Maybe they didn't.
While the Race is about remembering, it's also about honoring people like Vickie Samuelson, who's living proof there is life after breast cancer.
So, why does Vickie race? The same reason she fought so hard to win the battle.
You see, when Vickie was diagnosed at the age of 37, her first thought was her three young sons.
She recalls, "I gotta beat this thing, I've gotta raise these boys."
The three now, grown men by her side were her inspiration. And she was theirs.
Vickie explains, "My oldest son come home one night laid his arm up on the island in our kitchen and kind of looked at me with this big grin on his face, had a very large pink ribbon tattoo on his arm. Well, he had someone ask him one day, 'What's a guy like you doing with a pink ribbon on your arm?' He said, 'It's for my mom.'"
It was far from a race but they made it to the finish line. Together.
Vickie says, "This is why I do it. For my children. And my husband, the shutterbug back there with the camera in his hand...he was there for every surgery, every step of they way."
So his year, she's racing for all of them. Every step of the way.
"They never let me down once."
And no matter what your reason is, keep racing. Until everyone's story, ends like Vickie's.
