This Contra Costa Times article about one of the TNT honorees gives me another reason to get on my bike and train harder. We are all so fortunate to be given the chances to race triathlons. I will ride 5 hours this Sunday in honor of Brenda.
Brenda Donato, battled leukemia and then months later finished a marathon and triathlon, died Saturday night at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek from complications of a bone marrow transplant. She was 36. Donato developed acute myeloid leukemia in 2005 and was in remission at the time she finished the Wildflower Triathlon in May. For the race, she joined Team in Training, a group of athletes that competes while raising research money for leukemia and other blood cancers.
But her leukemia returned two months after the triathlon, sending her back to the hospital for a fourth round of chemotherapy. Donato received new bone marrow last summer but contracted chronic graft-versus-host disease, allowing the donor's immune cells to attack her healthy tissue.
She kept a positive attitude throughout her fight and inspired others along the way. In her final MySpace blog entry last week, she wrote about how leukemia changed her life. "Not only would it instantly humble me and make me feel invincible, it would subtract years from my life, scare friends away, add new compassionate ones into my life and inspire and motivate new people like no other," she wrote.
More than 100 of Donato's friends and relatives attended a fundraiser in Brentwood earlier this month to help pay her medical bills and make donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Her friends set up a webcam so she could interact with attendees from her hospital bedside.
In her final blog, Donato said she had no regrets about her life and knew her purpose.
"I always knew in my life that I was here for a reason. My reason was always to help others."
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