My beautiful mother, Anna Czekaj, passed away on Christmas morning in 2022. On a day that was meant to be happy and spent with family, my mom became a guardian angel for my children.
I have chosen to raise funds for the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition and in November 2023 I plan to run in the NYC Marathon in my mom’s memory.
My why:
1. To honor my mom. Anna Czekaj was resilient, brave, intelligent, creative, hardworking, helpful, silly, devoted, and most of all loved. Her life was cut short at 54 years young, and at the very least, she deserves to be remembered for all the beauty that she brought into the world.
2. To heal. I am hopeful that the journey of training for a marathon, raising awareness of ovarian cancer, and reflecting on memories with my mom will help me along the path of grief. I am heartbroken and lost.
3. To raise funds for ovarian cancer detection. Currently there are ZERO methods to detect ovarian cancer. My mom was diagnosed at Stage IV – before she began feeling ill, she had zero warnings of what was happening inside her body.
4. To raise awareness. I want the teal ribbon to be correlated with ovarian cancer just as much as the pink ribbon is correlated with breast cancer. I want people to be aware that this cancer is vicious. I want to encourage women to listen to their bodies and speak with their doctors if something does not feel right.
Nobody should have to ever endure the pain of losing a loved one, yet cancer rips away those who matter most to us every single day. Please consider making a donation, if you are financially comfortable to do so.
If you cannot donate at this time, at a minimum please educate yourself and the women in your life on the warning signs of ovarian cancer. Read about signs and symptoms here: https://ovarian.org/about-ovarian-cancer/signs-and-symptoms/
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Evy