A Jamaican, Novlene Williams- Mills; a track and field athlete is a three time Olympic bronze medallist in 4 x400 meters relay. She is also a 4 x World Championships Silver medallist, 1 x World Championships Bronze medallist, 3 x World Athletics Final Silver medallist, 1 x World Athletics Final Gold medallist, 4 x Olympic Game finalist, 8 x World Championship Finalist, 3 x Diamond League Meeting Winner. In the current year Williams- Mills have been placed in the 6th position in Women’s 400m and in the 49th position in Women’s Overall ranking by All Athletics.com World Rankings.
An elite athlete with a stubborn and competitive spirit, Williams- Mills is a breast cancer survivor and except for her husband and a few closed family members and friends, no one was aware about the fight she was facing from inside. Novlene stated that she was not open about her disease because she did not intend to gain sympathy but she also admitted that she felt back stabbed after knowing the bitter truth. She felt that being an athlete, such disease must be impossible to occur. She continued her races despite her illness and had to undergo a double mastectomy surgery to reduce her chances from 99 percent to 3 percent of getting the disease again. Today she supports the breast cancer survivors by means of her races and wants to spread a simple message around the world that fighting cancer is possible by all means and you are the same person despite the disease. She describes her husband Jameel Hill as the support who helped her fight the disease with courage, strength and determination. It was said that she might not be in a position to run on the tracks after her surgery but Novlene proved all her critics wrong by running again and she is confident of restoring her old records and even more.
Fighters like Novlene are perfect examples for not only the youth but everyone not only because of her undying spirit towards her profession but also because of the willpower she exercised while fighting breast cancer. She is an inspiration on and off the field to all the people who think that little accidents in life ruin everything. When a woman at this young age can fight cancer and emerge victorious in what she does best, each and every individual should understand the fact that they possess immense power and potential inside. All they need is to understand it.
