SAN ANTONIO – Elizabeth Martinez is celebrating being cancer-free, but it doesn’t erase the memory of her breast cancer diagnosis in 2023.
“I went to do my mammogram regular screening, and they called me that I had cancer,” Elizabeth recalls. “I was stunned. I was very stunned.”
Elizabeth and her family were ready to fight, but she hit a road block.
“I needed a ride to go to my appointments because we had to go to different doctors, different locations,” she said. “I had a car but it wasn’t really that good.”
That’s when a social worker at the oncologist’s office told Elizabeth about the American Cancer Society’s Road To Recovery.
Road To Recovery is one of our transportation programs,” said Patrick Isenberg, director of corporation relations with the American Cancer Society. “It’s a free ride for patients. They get connected with a volunteer through an app and then find a ride to get to their cancer treatment,”
Elizabeth was paired with a woman named Edie.
“She took me to the front door and she would pick me up,” Elizabeth said. “She let me know if you need to go anywhere else, let me know what time you need to go, I’ll be there for you.”
Edie was much more than a ride. She is a friend.
“She’s part of our family now,” Elizabeth said. “We invited her to come when I rang the cancer bell, she was there. We had a birthday party for me. She came.”
A friendship that makes all the difference.
“It’s the bonds that they make and the connection that they share which gives them a sense of community,” adds Isenberg.
That’s something Elizabeth desperately needed.
“I had hope,” she said. “I would have hope. It was very challenging when I lost my hair. I couldn’t see myself in the mirror.”
Hope, faith and strength that got Elizabeth through her cancer journey.
“I got my hair back. I had lost my hair. I had lost weight. I was very tired,” said Elizabeth. “Now I got hair and I’m moving now.”
Isenberg said the American Cancer Society receives more ride requests in San Antonio than they can provide, so they’re always looking for volunteers.
Learn more about how you can volunteer, donate or get help from the American Cancer Society through the Sinclair Cares: Help Drive Out Cancer campaign.
