Gabriela Dabrowski, a high level doubles player, number 3 in the ranking in the specialty, greeted 2024 with a long post on Instagram in which she revealed that she had been fighting breast cancer, which she was diagnosed with in the spring. The 32-year-old Canadian tennis player won bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Paris 2024 Olympic mixed doubles while undergoing treatment. Now out of danger: “In the spring of 2023 – she wrote on her profile – I felt a lump in my left breast during a self-examination. A doctor told me it was nothing and not to worry. But in the spring of 2024 I felt that the lump had gotten bigger, I underwent some tests. And the preliminary results arrived: cancer. A word you never expect to hear: in an instant your life or that of a loved one is turned upside down.”
“A privilege to call myself a survivor”
The Canadian tennis player wanted to make her story public “because prevention saves lives: I want to underline the quality of life that can be maintained when cancer is detected at an early stage, when highly qualified doctors take care of you and when you are surrounded of people who truly support us. I feel lucky to have the luxury of being able to talk about all this. It’s a privilege to call myself a survivor. Now I see life through the lens of gratitude. I began to appreciate everything I had.”
Only one month missed for treatment
Dabrowski missed only a month of her competitive season, between April and May, she underwent two surgeries before playing the Wimbledon tournament with her longtime partner, Erin Routliffe. He suffered during the treatment: “I couldn’t even lift my left arm: my coach Patrick threw the ball for me when I had to serve in training”. The treatments had an effect, his life as an athlete continued as best he could , so much so that, after the Olympic bronze, at the end of the season came the triumph in the Finals in Riyadh with her partner and friend Erin.
“You appreciate what you have when you fear losing it”
“For a long time – writes Dabrowski – I was not ready to expose myself to possible attention and questions. I wanted to handle the situation privately, informing only the people closest to me. I was afraid that cancer would forever become part of my identity. Now I don’t feel that way anymore. When the threat of losing everything I’d worked for my whole life became a real possibility, I began to authentically appreciate what I had. That’s why I say “fuck you… but also thank you.” ”.
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