Diane Nylander, a 2020 Epic Heart Hero, shares her story:

I work out regularly to stay in shape for snowboarding and adventure trips with my brother and sister.  We take a trip together every year – usually climbing mountains. A few months after we completed a backpacking trip on Isle Royale National Park in 2006, I was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer.  My cancer treatments included a combination of a mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation, which took over a year.  I have been clean of cancer since 2008 and working my way back into adventures. In August 2019, while training for a mini-triathlon and a Swim to the Moon race, I had a heart event, and I discovered that the chemo/radiation treatments had caused a cardiomyopathy condition.  I don’t feel like a hero – I was raised to “pull myself up by my bootstraps” and just do what needs to be done. I had a great support network, and I surrounded myself with positive people.  I have looked at life and decided that experiences and relationships are more precious than possessions… and that is how I strive to live every day