It is with heavy hearts that we share the loss of Sarah DeBord. Sarah was a fierce advocate both for herself and her fellow young-onset colorectal cancer patients. Her voice and her words lifted and inspired so many during her eight years of truly LIVING with metastatic disease. We will forever be touched by her generous spirit, her quick wit, and her raw honesty.
Sarah chose to use her experiences as a patient to help others. She didn’t let a delayed stage IV diagnosis stop her from experiencing new things or finding new passions. We are proud that Sarah chose to channel those passions into her work at the Colon Cancer Coalition. She never waived in her vision to help young people learn the signs and symptoms and advocate for themselves so they may have a different outcome.
She was never quiet about her disease and the ups and downs of treatment. Sarah shared so that others could find comfort in knowing they were not alone and find inner strength. As she neared the end of her life, however, she decided to focus inward and on a small circle of family.
Her light lives on in her two boys now 14 and 11. Sarah’s fear at diagnosis when they were just 4 and 1-years-old was only that she would not have the time to be their mother and watch them grow. Fortunately she was blessed to experience many of the milestones she feared she would never see including first words, first days of kindergarten, and many, many more. Her parenting-with-cancer mantra blessed her sons with memories of a loving mother, and fierce advocate for others. To read more about Sarah's amazing life you can read this spotlight blog we wrote in October of 2020 featuring her: https://www.jackscaregiverco.org/blog/spotlight-on-sarah-debord-a-named-fund-story