EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE: The Dancer of Life

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Cancer is one of the ugliest things on this planet. It affects so many, many people we love. But, out of the dark you can find light, beauty, and survivors. LaVonda Howard knows all about it. Her story of survival makes her our Extraordinary Person of the Week.

She’s got the moves on the dance floor. She’s got the wheels, too. “I run a 5k every now and then,” LaVonda Howard said.

Photo: LaVonda Howard

And she’s got a survivor story that starts at the dinner table with family. “I saw her(LaVonda’s aunt) at Thanksgiving that year and she didn’t have any hair,” Howard said. “She was wearing a bandana and that’s when a light bulb went off. I went home and found a lump.”

Howard has the smile that, well, makes you smile. She’s a trained dancer and currently teaches at South East Dance Academy.

But in 2009, dancing would be sidelined. “I did surgery first, a double mastectomy,” Howard said. “Then, went through radiation and reconstruction.”

Photo: LaVonda Howard

By her side during the life changing diagnosis was her mother, her children, and friends. Friends like fellow dance instructor Amanda Hort. “She(Hort) actually sat on my bed one night crying, early on before my surgeries, and said I wish it was me instead of you,” Howard said.

Now that friend bares a tattoo supporting two lives affected by breast cancer.

Howard lives a surivor story shared by many. “I got into a support group with Women of Hope and it meets on a regular basis,” she said of the support system. “You’re able to talk with people who have gone through the same think you’ve gone through.”

Photo: LaVonda Howard

Support is key because surviving takes extraordinary strength.

“The main thing is to just stay focused on keeping positive and just get through it,” Howard said. “You never know how strong you are until strong is the only choice you have.”

LaVonda Howard, your daily dance is not only inspiring….it’s Extraordinary!!!!

For more information on LaVonda and her work, click here.
For more information on the Women of Hope, click here.
The Women of Hope annual Diamonds and Champaign Hope Ball is November 7th. During that event, three dance teams will take part in the “Dance for Life” which LaVonda took part in 3 years ago(see video). You can read about and vote for this year’s dancers, including WWAY’s Taylor Yakowenko, by clicking here.

-Daniel