MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It’s was the sound of victory for one a Memphis woman as she rang the bell signaling her return to good health.
“To me, I felt like God had assigned me to have cancer,” said Natalie Person. “They always say God always assigns the assignments to his strongest soldiers.”
The road getting there wasn’t easy for the mother battling stage 2 breast cancer.
Her diagnosis came at age 34. She got the news from her family's frantic calls when her doctor couldn't reach her.
“My sister called again and I said, ‘Why are you calling me like this? Y’all are calling me like I got cancer or something.’ my sister said, ‘Sister, you did.’
Her reaction was heartbroken.
“I was distraught, I didn’t know what to think or what to do,” said Person. “Where did it come from?”
Breast cancer doesn’t run in her family. Person said it’s like it fell out of the sky.
Since then, she underwent eight rounds of chemotherapy and 30 rounds of radiation.
“I had chemo they call the red devil, one of the strongest chemo that you can take, and that’s the chemo that took out my hair. It was sick. I didn’t want to eat,” said Person.
All the while her mother’s example of a warrior spirit propelling her.
The cancer survivor shared how the lessons she learned from her mother on strength and willpower also taught her daughter.
“My mom she teaches me that and my daughter she is just as strong as I was,” said Person.
Now, her great-grandmother's lessons are passed on.
“Sometimes I think maybe even a little bit stronger," Person said.