By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Local Walpole resident Colleen Sullivan was recently recognized as “Alumni Walker of the Year” for her efforts in the Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk presented by Hyundai. Sullivan, who received this reward just last month, was among a select group of awardees recognized for their fundraising and commitment in the 35th Jimmy Fund Walk event, held this past October.
Back in 2014, Sullivan was diagnosed with breast cancer at the young age of 39 years old. Upon meeting with her doctor at Dana Farber, he suggested doing genetic testing since she was so young to have the aggressive form of cancer that she was newly diagnosed with. The results quickly informed both Sullivan and her doctor that she did in fact carry the BRCA1 gene which resulted in her triple negative breast cancer.
This led to Sullivan going through intense treatments of chemo and radiation in which she lost her gorgeous red hair. She believed that her hair was such a staple of her being and losing it was like losing a piece of herself. Sullivan hated wearing wigs, yet when she returned to school in September of 2014 to teach her 5th grade students, she had to explain to them that they may see her wear a scarf or hat rather than a wig if it was hot in the classroom. This prompted one student to ask if Sullivan could show them what she looked like without the wig. With all the student’s confirming they were comfortable with her doing so, she slowly began to remove her wig. Upon completely removing it, the students burst into a loud applause for their extremely strong, brave, and courageous teacher.
“That response from my students,” Sullivan stated, “fueled me. That acceptance from young children, my coworkers, it was the acceptance I didn’t know I needed at the time. From that moment on, I never wore my wig again. I no longer felt the need to hide or pretend that my cancer wasn’t there. This is just me and I just wanted the world to see that. This is my journey, my cancer, I am owning it, and I am fighting it right now. I am in this battle.”
This fighting spirit in Sullivan sparked her interest in the Jimmy Fund Walk, which she first participated in the year of her diagnosis in 2014. She immediately fell in love and could not get enough of it. The first year she participated in the 5K, then the next two years she walked the 10K, and the last seven years she walked the half marathon. Her and her team, Sullivan StrongER, have raised over $22,000 last year and have raised over $177,000 since they started walking in 2014. All proceeds are given directly to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Sullivan is currently in remission and has redeemed her greatest wish during this journey, to live a normal life again. While there were many hiccups and complications along the way, she constantly fought this tough battle for her three daughters and her husband. “The bottom line here,” Sullivan stated, “is that although my cancer diagnosis was the worst possible thing, in hindsight, I can confidently say it was probably one of the best experiences for me to go through. And I am not saying a cancer diagnosis is what you want, but I would say the experience of it, like my treatment, the care, the questions that were answered, the support I received, the doctors who helped me, from the parking attendant and all the way up to now being friends with the Vice President of the Jimmy Fund and absolutely everyone in between. They all treat you like you are the only person that is battling cancer and they give you such undivided attention along with the care that you need. And that drives me to keep fundraising and find a cure and help people who are going through this cancer journey as I did. … I can sleep at night knowing that we are making a difference. It might just be a drop in the bucket but we really are trying our very best so that a cancer diagnosis never has to be a thing anymore. I would just love that.”
Sullivan will be turning 50 years old in August and embraces this age with open arms. She will additionally be participating in her 11th Jimmy Fund Walk in October. While in remission, she has nothing but a positive attitude and outlook on life. Her outstanding goals are to keep the conversation continually going about cancer and truly make a difference when it comes to this grueling sickness.
For more information on the Sullivan StrongER team, as well as the Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk, please visit their website at danafarber.jimmyfund.org. On behalf of Hometown Weekly Newspaper, we congratulate Sullivan on her incredible recognition!
