Marcella Kelson to Honor Kate Williams With BCRF’s Unsung Hero Award

The women’s experiences with triple-negative breast cancer highlight the power of storytelling and lifesaving research

Just four months after giving birth to her daughter, Marcella Kelson got unthinkable news: She had triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

“I was completely overwhelmed and paralyzed with fear. At the time, I hadn’t met anyone with a TNBC diagnosis,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine that I would ever find a story so similar to my own: an otherwise healthy woman diagnosed with TNBC in the weeks following her daughter’s birth.”

Then Marcella came across Kate Williams online. About two years earlier, Kate had felt a lump in her breast at the end of her pregnancy. Two months postpartum, she too was diagnosed with TNBC.

“I felt my first bit of relief when I discovered Kate’s story,” Marcella said. “The difference was that Kate was on the other side of it—and she was happy, back at work, enjoying her children and family. She looked healthy, and she was having fun. She had her life back. When I saw that, I felt it optimistic.”

TNBC is an aggressive form of breast cancer that disproportionately impacts younger women and, unfortunately, can be harder to treat because it lacks many targeted therapies, unlike other forms. It’s also more rare, accounting for about 15 percent of breast cancer diagnoses. Breast cancer associated with pregnancy is rarer still, impacting about one in 3,000 pregnancies.

Marcella reached out to Kate on Instagram, and the two forged a friendship while Marcella was in treatment despite the distance between them.

“Seeing that a future was possible helped me get through each and every day of treatment until I was able to join Kate on the ‘other side’ of this diagnosis,” Marcella said.

At this year’s New York Hot Pink Party on May 13, Marcella will present Kate with the event’s Roslyn and Leslie Goldstein Unsung Hero Award. Established by longtime BCRF supporter Roslyn “Roz” Goldstein, the award honors friends who stepped up to help someone diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I am honored to be receiving the Unsung Hero Award from Marcella,” Kate said. “As a woman, my feeling has always been that we are here to lift each other up. I am humbled that my story touched Marcella in a way that positively impacted her experience with cancer. That is really a wonderful feeling.”

Kate was inspired to start sharing her story on a blog and on Instagram after finding herself in a similar place as Marcella.

“Folks tend to put on a brave face for the world and hide a lot of their feelings,” Kate said. “I shared my experience because I wanted others to know that I too was terrified, that I too had dark thoughts, that I too felt lost—but that it was simply a season. The rest of my life has not been defined by cancer but informed by cancer and the brevity of this life. I have continued to live a very full (somewhat overflowing!) life. I love for folks to know that there is life after cancer treatment. There is even life with treatment.”

Marcella said that Kate not only gave her hope but inspired her to share her experience with breast cancer online and as part of BCRF’s Research Is the Reason storytelling campaign.

“The trickle-down effect that her bravery has had is significant because it meant that my story has also inspired others,” Marcella said. “I don’t know if I would have thought to share my story had I not seen her do it and been so positively impacted by it.”

The two women also connected over their passion for lifesaving breast cancer research and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s mission.

“BCRF provided an outlet for my energy to throw my support behind something positive—a way to pave the path for others to survive and thrive with this disease,” Kate said.

That includes others like Marcella.

“Helping people understand the value of research was healing in and of itself, and I know it is for Kate too,” Marcella said. “Our appreciation for research—not just the diagnosis and the eerily similar experiences—is what bonds us.”