Mom Honors Late Daughter By Running Through U.S. National Parks

This mom ran more than 400 miles through 51 U.S. national parks to honor her late daughter.

Gil Schaenzle lost her 21-year-old daughter Anna Rose to adrenocortical carcinoma, a rare form of cancer that affects the adrenal cortex above the kidneys.

“We were hoping that, that treatment would keep her alive and possibly thriving for at least a few years,” she said. “But within nine months — she — she had lost her battle with it.”

Before Anna passed, her mom floated with idea of running through all the U.S. national parks and Anna said she wanted to join.

“This was something that she and I had planned to do,” Schaenzle said. ” It was a crazy idea that I cooked up while I was recovering from ankle and knee surgery, which I had broken in a half marathon. And I told her about it one day while she was throwing up from chemo. And she said, I’m gonna do them all with you, Mom.”

Schaenzle teamed up with The Healing NET Foundation, a nonprofit that helps get better care for patients with neuroendocrine cancer, which is often misdiagnosed due to a lack of information. She raised more than $12,300 for patients with neuroendocrine cancer.