The second annual Donna Terrell’s Yoga Warriors Fighting Colon Cancer (YW) event was a huge success.  Our community-wide free event was held at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Little Rock.   We doubled our attendance from last year and raised more money  – over $5,000 that will buy liquid nutrition for cancer patients in Central Arkansas.  As some of you may know, the driving force behind this event is my daughter Queah (pronounced Quaya) who died from colon cancer four years ago.  In the six weeks leading up to the YW event I shared the stories on Fox 16 News of my daughter and many other people who are cancer survivors or affected by the disease in some way.  I have discovered in my story telling we all have a message that can resonate with people in different ways.  My belief has always been that through the awareness these stories bring – and the YW event itself –  we just might be able to save a life or make someone’s journey though cancer a little easier.

A few days before our April event I finished up the 9PM newscast and went back to my desk to check emails. In my in-box was a message from a lady who wrote – “I wanna say thank you for the many reports on colon cancer in the memory of your daughter”.  The email went on to say –  “I was having blood in my stool, was embarrassed to go to the doctor and after hearing your stories about your daughter I broke down and went to the doctor”.  The email explained how the doctor suggested a colonoscopy. Through that procedure it was discovered the woman had over 100 pre-cancerous polyps in her colon.  She told me her doctor said her only option was to have her colon removed. The email said…”he (doctor) said it would have turned into cancer if I did not have it removed.   I am so grateful to you and your daughter for helping me”.  For a moment after reading the email I was in shock.   Then I went from tears to disbelief thinking maybe someone was playing a joke on me.  I responded to her email and spoke with her a few days later.