Meet The Woman Who's Beating Breast Cancer One Run At A Time

"I'm going to run every day until you're cancer-free." Those were the words Vanessa Oshima spoke to her childhood best friend, Caroline Steer, from across the world when she learned of her breast cancer diagnosis.

And 1,837 days later, Oshima has stayed true to her word. Oshima and Steer had lost touch over the years, but Steer's diagnosis rocked her—so she committed to running outside every day, no matter what. "I decided to run outdoors to mirror Caroline's struggle," explains Oshima. "Cancer patients have good days and absolutely shitty days where they wake up and just start crying for no reason. Cancer patients don’t get to choose not to do it on a shitty day; they just have to get up, face it, and go. I don't run on the treadmill when the weather is rough, because cancer patients don’t get to choose to do that. They have to wade through the shit that is that day."

On an ordinary day this past February, Oshima got a startling diagnosis: Her doctor told her that she, too, had breast cancer. "The first thing I did when I was diagnosed was call Caroline and tell her I was diagnosed, and she put on her running shoes and ran for me that day," Oshima remembers. "It’s all about women supporting each other to be even better together, especially in a fight like this one."

On the morning of her mastectomy, Oshima went running. Granted, it was just around the hospital, but she knew she was better-equipped to face what was ahead if she laced up her running shoes first.

As Oshima learned after Steer's diagnosis, as a cancer patient, she has her good days and her bad days. But the main thing that keeps her feeling strong and confident—one mastectomy and months of hormone therapy later—is her running habit.

"I didn’t get reconstructive surgery, so I have a giant scar and a completely flat chest," she admits. "I think because the rest of my body is quite fit and healthy, there's an element in feeling strong in my body that makes me feel a unique kind of confidence in my body. There are days when I stand in front of the mirror and cry, and I don’t like the scar. A friend of mine said to me, 'That scar is a reminder that you are stronger than the thing that’s trying to kill you.' She's right."