Blue Bell Woman To Run Komen's 'Race For The Cure' In Honor Of Late Mother
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A Blue Bell woman who has been participating in the Susan G. Komen "Race For The Cure" since she was 13 is now running in honor of her late mother.
Megan Clements of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania says that her mother had a great sense of humor and definitely gave the best unconditional love to my brother and I that you could ever ask for.
When doctors delivered the news to Barbara Careless and her family in January 2015, they were devastated.
"My dad immediately broke down and I was just trying to be there for him and I said, 'I just can't lose her yet. I can't,'" Megan recalled.
Megan stepped up and tried to be strong not just for her dad but also her mom.
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"We would find out about a cancer, then in another couple months it spread here, and then another couple of months...So, it was tough and I think the toughest part is when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter in April of 2016," Megan said.
Throughout the radiation, Megan says her mom never stopped smiling, especially when Megan's son Patrick was by her side.
"She was incredible," Megan said.
Despite her strength, her sunny disposition and the doctors best efforts, Barbara's health was declining.
"I found out I was having a little girl and in a couple weeks, found out my mom was only going to have a couple months to live," Megan said.
The last day she was receiving radiation, the nurses all cried because they knew that was the last of it."
The wife and mother of two passed away in December 2016, just three weeks before Megan's daughter Mary Kate was born.
A week before she passed away, we were able to have a conversation about my daughter. And that was the time she knew she was coming to terms about what was happening, that she probably wasn't going to be here to meet Mary Kate.
While little Mary Kate never met her grandmother on May 13, she, her brother Patrick, their father and mother Megan will represent Barbara at Susan G. Komen's "Race For The Cure."
"I know my mom would be so proud of me and she was always so proud of everything that I did. And this is actually the first thing that I'm accomplishing besides having my daughter without her here, so it makes me feel like I'm doing good in her honor," Megan said.
The theme of this year's Susan G. Komen race for the cure is "We are family."
