The big winners of Monday’s 129th Boston Marathon may well be those benefitting from research and development into new cancer treatments supported by such fundraisers as Haverhill High School graduate Jillian Lemieux.
Lemieux, a lifelong runner and cancer survivor turned Dana-Farber Cancer Institute employee, was among the 30,000 runners that turned out for the event. The record she beat was her own, raising $12,665 for the cause. Last fall, she told WHAV about her motivation.
“I received six months of treatment at Dana-Farber,” she said. “That led me back to why I started working there too in the first place because I received such amazing care there and the doctors and everyone were genuinely so nice. It’s just a special place so it all came full circle, so this feels like the right time to try to take on the marathon.”
During high school, Lemieux was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a rare cancer that affects the lymphatic and immune systems. She benefitted from research that led to improved treatments. Lemieux said her late mother’s experience in the 1980s with the same type of cancer and later breast cancer inspired her involvement in helping cancer patients. Her mother passed away at 40 as a result of being over-radiated during her earlier lymphoma treatment.
Lemieux was joined by friends and family at the marathon, including her father Robert and sister Julia.