A jarring collision with a rude skier changed the course of Liz Healy’s life in unimaginable ways.
That fateful trip to Vermont in 2022 left Healy in excruciating pain. The MRI results were shocking — she had a fractured sacrum and a kidney tumor. She was diagnosed with Stage 2 kidney cancer.
Further testing revealed the incomprehensible — she also had Stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to her liver and lymph nodes.
“My journey has been incredibly difficult,” Healy, 49, hoarsely told The Post as she battled vocal cord paralysis.
“The colorectal cancer has spread to my bones. It’s in my hip and femur and my shoulder and vertebrae and my brain,” she added. “I recently had radiation to my bones and my brain.”
Yet, the Westchester grandmother of three is forging ahead. She plans to walk Sunday’s TCS New York City Marathon as a member of the New York Road Runners’ Team Inspire and of Fred’s Team, the official Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center running program.
Going the distance
Healy was a marathoner for years before her cancer diagnoses.
The management consultant ran the 2006 NYC marathon in 5 hours and 35 minutes at the age of 30. She also completed the 26.2-mile Marine Corps and Walt Disney World races.
“Marathons are a great way to see a city or see a new location,” she said.
The mom of three had already signed up for the NYC marathon when she received the stunning cancer news.
“[I] basically said to my husband, ‘I’m going to do this. I’m going to raise money because 100% of the money raised goes directly to cancer research, and that is research that right now my life depends on and the lives of so many people depend on,’ ” Healy recalled.
“It became another form of medicine for me.”
A long road ahead
Until she got rammed by the skier coming off the chairlift, Healy was clueless that she was sick.
Now she recognizes there were some signs.
“I had some bloating and more gas than usual,” she shared, “but all my girlfriends dealt with symptoms like that at times, and I didn’t think it was anything.”
Healy’s diagnosis came at 45, the age most adults should start colorectal cancer screening.
Undergoing a colonoscopy wasn’t her priority at the time.
“I did not know how rapidly this disease is increasing in younger people,” Healy explained. “At that point in time, I was a busy mom, an executive traveling around the world, and I would not have taken a day off to have a colonoscopy.”
Colorectal cancer is forecasted to become the leading cause of cancer death for people under 50 by 2030.
Researchers have pointed the finger at sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets and environmental exposures, though the exact reasons for the surge in younger cases are unknown.
The good news is that precancerous polyps can be found and removed in a colonoscopy, a crucial step in preventing colon cancer.
Healy now reminds people that the simple, painless procedure is a lot easier than chemotherapy, which is just one of the many treatments she has endured.
Running on fumes
Shortly after her 2022 diagnosis, Healy spent 10 hours in surgery getting cancer cut out of her colon, lymph nodes and liver and being fitted for a device that delivered chemotherapy to her liver.
She also had a portion of her kidney removed, underwent radiation and immunotherapy and played guinea pig in clinical trials.
She’s going through a rough patch right now thanks to a “triple whammy.”
At times over the last few months, she has struggled to walk or even move. Radiation to her brain and bones has left her with extreme fatigue.
And vocal cord paralysis has allowed fluid to pass into her airway and lungs, triggering a bacterial infection known as aspiration pneumonia.
She hopes to get a boost from completing the marathon.
“Once I’ve finished the marathon, gotten my medal, it gives me two or three months of just that runner’s high,” Healy said, “which, to me, is as important as the chemotherapies and radiation surgeries.”
Her favorite part of the course is mile 17, on First Avenue in front of MSK, where patients, doctors, nurses and staff cheer on runners.
She takes the opportunity to reenergize herself and think about the patients battling for their lives at the hospital.
“I’ve been there, looked out the window, wanting to get out, wanting to go home,” she mused.
“The fact that I’m out and able to move my body … it allows me to show gratitude.”
A continuous journey
Healy completed the marathon on chemo for the last three years.
In 2022, she finished just shy of 8 hours with two friends.
The following year, four pals joined her at the marathon. Nine accompanied her in 2024.
Now she has 20 friends and family members on Team Check Your Colon as part of Fred’s Team, which counts over 1,000 runners this year.
She’s raised over $157,000 in recent months for colorectal cancer research at MSK.
Her crew also raises awareness by distributing colorectal cancer blue ribbons and screening cards to the crowds lining the course.
Healy has the added honor of being on Team Inspire. NYRR — which produces the marathon — is highlighting the inspirational stories of 26 athletes, one for each mile of the race.
She said her participation turns “pain into purpose.”
“[It’s] something that I could control,” she added. “As a cancer patient, your life is a lot out of your control.”
Cancer is wildly unpredictable, but Healy is already planning to have 40 pals join her at the start line next year.
