Each year, many teams participate in our annual Head for the Cure 5K – San Antonio. Team Gina Lee has participated in honor of Gina after her courageous battle with brain cancer. By participating in this event, you are helping fund research and programs to support the brain tumor community. Learn more about Team Gina Lee!
Where do I begin?
Gina Lee McElroy is where our team name comes from, Team Gina Lee. She passed away one year after she was diagnosed, she was 30 years old. Some facts about our angel, she was a loving mother and wife. Her family was the biggest reason throughout her fight, even with a dim diagnosis, she fought and she fought hard. I remember sitting with her after learning of her illness and she told us not to worry because she loved herself too much to die (lol) she promised us she would fight, because “quitting is not an option” this is where our team quote came from. She was also the only mother figure that her younger brother and sister had Gina’s mom passed away in a car accident a few years before she died. So she looked after her brother and sister just like she promised her mom.
The year Gina died, this run came to San Antonio and I was excited to learn more about it. The last days when Gina would sleep most the time and barely speak, I laid next to her and cried and cried, I promised my cousin that I would do every cancer race I could until there was a cure. I promised her that I would never ever let anyone forget her. She was the light to so many through all of this. So every year I get a group together in her memory to walk/run these 3 miles, we all talk, cry and share our memories of her. This is my way of keeping her alive. – Annette Vasquez