My Battle Scars Are My Cancer Scars

The Jamaican-born sprinter was diagnosed with breast cancer just weeks before she won bronze at the 2012 London Games. Then, after four surgeries, she came back to medal in the 4x400 relay in Rio. A cancer-free Williams-Mills shares her incredible journey.

- Morty Ain

I received my diagnosis in June 2012. I went to my gynecologist for a checkup, and I was like, “I feel a small lump in my breast.” When I got the call that it was cancer, it was the week during the Jamaican nationals to qualify for the Olympics. I had gotten the call I think on Monday or Tuesday, and I leave for Jamaica the next day. I was like, “OK, they’re going to call me back and be like, ‘This is the wrong results we have. That was somebody else.’” But it never happened. It was a month before the [London] Olympics.

I went to Jamaica, and to be honest, I went into the national championship and I just went about my business. I was just trying to carry on. What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to just sit at home? One of the things I asked was, “Can I continue to run until we’re ready to do the surgery?” [My doctor] said yes. I needed something to distract me, because I know sitting at home I was just going to worry. I was going to cry. You know, my husband was going to work, all my friends at that time were competing, so I had nobody to talk to at home.

When I came back from Jamaica, that’s when I got the final diagnosis. I sat in the doctor’s office, and I listened to everything he had to say. I didn’t cry until I went out side.That’s when I really fell apart. I felt like a baby. I was like, “This can’t be real. It’s impossible.”