Taro
Sponsor: Mikuni Sushi

Champion & Story
Janet Duffy-Jones
Bone Cancer

Janet Jones-Duffy has always been a runner. Nearly six feet tall, Janet has used her long legs to set records for her high school track team. In 2006, a rare form of cancer took away her ability to run, but not her ability to conquer obstacles of every kind.

It began as a pain in her right knee. Janet thought it was just a sports injury, but it turned out to be much worse. She had a tumor on her tibia. Often the illness leads to amputation, but Janet was lucky. Instead she underwent a limb salvage operation that included a knee replacement and a titanium rod in her tibia. Though Janet was able to save her affected leg, she would never again be able to run.

It was remarkable the way the community rallied around Janet. There were walk-a-thons, scholarships and fund raisers. Janet’s high school sold wristbands with the Latin phrase “vulneratus non victus”—meaning “wounded, not conquered.”

Throughout her ordeal, Janet was more than determined to stand up to cancer. When chemotherapy took her hair, she bought lime-green and bright purple wigs. While most patients wait to begin rehabilitation, Janet began on her own in the hospital hallway. And at her high school graduation ceremony, Janet not only made it, she walked across the stage as valedictorian.