Featured Patient

2010 Featured Patient Helene Neville

Last year, we honored Tracy Gunderson for her ongoing battle with leukemia.

This year we will honor Helene Neville. Helene has been a nurse and a fitness coach and trainer for the past 28 years. After several health battles, she is empowered to promote health and fitness to the world! She was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1993, conquering the disease in 2001. Not before overcoming three brain surgeries which she suffered between 1991 and 1997.

In 1991, Helene unexpectedly became seriously ill. In July 1998, after enduring three brain surgeries, Helene’s doctors told her she would never recover. It was Helene’s persistent attitude that drove her to set goals in her life…if she wasn’t going to live long at least she could create a few lasting memories for those she would leave behind. She decided then to accomplish one more goal in her life, and she began training to run a 26.2-mile marathon.

Helene entered and completed her first marathon and has completed 25 more since. Among them was the London Marathon, where her finish qualified her to compete in the world famous Boston Marathon. Qualifying for Boston was a proud step for Helene in overcoming her extreme health obstacles.

Helene’s most notable marathon challenge was the Fox Cities Marathon held in Fox Cities, Wisconsin. Helene’s close friend, Don Owens, who lost his sight twenty years earlier, asked Helene if she would help him train to run a marathon. After sixteen weeks of training, Helene and Don completed the marathon together, tethered to each other with a bungee cord.

“I felt honored to have experienced a tremendous goal with my friend. He conquered something many thought was not possible. The smile on his face said it all. His heart and soul got him to the finish line,” Helene said.

In 2000, Helene climbed California’s Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states. Although Helene experienced several health setbacks, it hadn’t stopped her from challenging herself. In honoring a fellow fitness trainer and friend who was suffering from terminal cancer, Helene challenged herself to enter the Midwest All-Natural Bodybuilding competition where she placed second overall and dedicated the challenge to her friend. She has since competed in two additional body building contests.

In 2002, Helene founded the Des Moines Marathon, for which she received the Runner’s World George Sheehan Golden Shoe Award. She also received Des Moines’ Key to the City and Proclamation, the Governors seal for community service and commitment, and was a finalist for the Iowa Star Award.

With her vast experience and understanding of health, wellness and fitness, Helene has helped others achieve a healthy lifestyle. Using herself as an example, Helene began taking on clients to help them make, and reach, their life goals. It is with this experience and knowledge that she decided to write her first book, Nurses in Shape, a fitness, nutrition and motivational book to help nurses reach higher levels of mental, emotional, and physical wellness for themselves so they may better serve their patients. Helene believes that good health starts with health care practitioners, lending to the book’s mission of empowering nurses to lead by example.

“I believe that inherently everyone wants to do something amazing in life, unfortunately, many of do not know how to generate this feeling of extreme amazement. Never forget that the hardest part isn’t finishing something, the hardest part is having the courage to start”!

I hope to continue to inspire everyone who hears my message to try a new, healthier lifestyle, or to try something else in their life that they never thought they could achieve. With the proper guidance and attitude, everyone can learn to live healthier lives. Helene has been a pillar of strength through her own trials and tribulations. One of her mother’s favorite quote was, “It isn’t the load that gets you down; it is how you carry it.” These words resonate through Helene’s mind every day.

Join the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for an evening of martinis, auctions, food, costumes and fun, as your favorite Valley celebrities shake, rattle, and pour a variety of martinis in an effort to become the “2010 Master Mixer.”

Ticket prices include all food and martinis. Tips are both welcomed and encouraged, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

We look forward to seeing you there.