PAGE, Ariz. — Theresa Candelaria conquered cancer. Then it was time to conquer something else.
“There is a bravery in me now that I can accomplish and do what I want,” said Theresa who lives in Page, Arizona.
With that newfound bravery, she decided to jump out of a plane in Moab, Utah.
“I really was fearless. I was just like, let's do this. I'm ready,” said Theresa.
She wasn’t always this daring, but after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in January, her entire life changed.
After experiencing noticing changes in her body, she went to the doctor for a mammogram. The mammogram came back fine. But Theresa still had doubts, so she went to a specialist at Banner Health Imaging for an ultrasound.
That ultrasound showed she had Stage 2 breast cancer.
“Our jaws dropped,” said Theresa.
From there, she decided to get a double mastectomy. Her husband, Ted Candelaria, was by her side through it all.
“I couldn't believe how strong she was to mentally go through with this,” said Ted.
By April, Theresa was declared cancer-free with a new outlook on life. She jumped with her daughter and released her late mom’s ashes in the air.
“To land to have my daughter there, my grandkids there, my husband there and know that my mom was there with me also was it so it was just pure happiness,” said Theresa.
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