Jul 13, 2007 8:10 pm US/Eastern
Cancer Survivor Defies Odds To Sing At Fenway
by Eileen Curran
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Denise Desimone, 51, of Amesbury was diagnosed with cancer two years ago.
CBS
A woman who was saved by Boston's world class medical care is getting a wonderful opportunity this weekend.
Denise Desimone isn't a professional singer but has a beautiful voice. Two years ago, that voice was silenced by throat cancer and she wasn't given much of a chance to live. Saturday night she will show us the power of positive thinking by singing the national anthem at Fenway.
The pre-game preparations are well underway at the park when onto this storied field comes a story of survival. This petite woman is nothing short of a miracle. It's amazing she's alive at all -- never mind alive and singing.
Desimone, 51, of Amesbury had just completed her second Pan Mass Challenge bike race two years ago -- all 87 miles -- and knew something wasn't right. "It was determined I was in a very advanced stage of carcinoma. I had tumor on back of tongue and cancer on both sides of my neck."
She was told she might have only months to live. It was then she decided, while she would go through painful surgery and debilitating chemotherapy, she would not battle the cancer. "I just knew I had to give it over to a higher power, and I had to stay positive and learn from this cancer and figure out what is it telling me."
And it has been that attitude -- that courage that has her doing what the doctors said she wouldn't: walk, talk, sing and survive.
Desimone will not only sing the national anthem at Fenway, she will also ride in her third Pan Mass Challenge next month -- it's something she promised herself. "I wanted to ride again… from the day I was diagnosed I said I will ride this ride again."
When asked what she'll be thinking of when she steps up to the microphone Saturday night, she said her parents who are no longer living, but who gave her not only her love of the Sox, but her love of life.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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