| Brenda
Donato, a Concord woman who battled leukemia and then months later
finished a marathon and triathlon, died Saturday night at John
Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek from complications of a bone
marrow transplant. She was 36.
Donato
developed acute myeloid leukemia in 2005 and was in remission at
the time she finished the Wildflower Triathlon in May. For the
race, she joined Team in Training, a group of athletes that
competes while raising research money for leukemia and other blood
cancers.
But
her leukemia returned two months after the triathlon, sending her
back to the hospital for a fourth round of chemotherapy.
Donato
received new bone marrow last summer but contracted chronic
graft-versus-host disease, allowing the donor's immune cells to
attack her healthy tissue.
She
kept a positive attitude throughout her fight and inspired others
along the way. In her final MySpace blog entry last week, she
wrote about how leukemia changed her life.
"Not
only would it instantly humble me and make me feel invincible, it
would subtract years from my life, scare friends away, add new
compassionate ones into my life and inspire and motivate new
people like no other," she wrote.
More
than 100 of Donato's friends and relatives attended a fundraiser
in Brentwood earlier this month to help pay her medical bills and
make donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Her friends
set up a webcam so she could interact with attendees from her
hospital bedside.
In
her final blog, Donato said she had no regrets about her life and
knew her purpose.
"I
always knew in my life that I was here for a reason. My reason was
always to help others."
EPITAPH
Brenda
Donato
BORN:
July 6, 1970
DIED:
April 14, 2007
SURVIVORS:
Husband, Jim; sons, Trevor, 10, and Jarrett, 7; brother Brad
Newlan; parents Linda Glogowski and Verdell Newlan; grandmother
Mary Laschuk.
SERVICES:
A celebration of Donato's life will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at
Heather Farm Park, 1540 Marchbanks Drive, Walnut Creek. |
