“Cancer Messed With the Wrong Woman”: Decorated Athlete, Who Underwent 15 Rounds of Chemotherapy, Leaves Sports World in Frenzy Following Major Update

Erin Kennedy, a standout rower for Great Britain, is no stranger to the Paralympics. Despite becoming a coxswain world champion twice, her career took a halt in May 2022 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then, she has replaced her time spent rowing on the water with visits to the hospital. Nevertheless, she is now ready to return to the sport she loves after undergoing 15 rounds of chemotherapy, among other treatments.

The British para-athlete will return to rowing after an absence of exactly one year. The sports community, however, didn’t wait long to rush into the comments to offer the returning icon their warmest welcome.

What made the British rower a prominent name in the Paralympics?

Erin Kennedy, a two-time world champion coxswain, adds an abundance of competitive experience to her team. In 2014, Kennedy won the Oxford women’s blue boat race for the first time in her career. She decided to pursue rowing professionally and joined the Leander Club in Henley-on-Thames. In 2016, Kennedy was an alternate for the Paralympic Mix4+ at the Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

But the world witnessed her and her team win the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race the following March. She rowed with her team to a gold medal at the 2018 World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, beating out the United States. As a result, she secured a spot on the team that won the PR3Mix4+ event at the 2019 World Championships.

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The para-athlete’s life was going swimmingly until May 25, 2022, when she received the devastating news that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Later on, she was encouraged to focus on her health rather than her rowing career. This treatment plan included a double mastectomy in January 2023 and fifteen rounds of chemotherapy. The 30-year-old was given the go-ahead to return to her sport in March 2023, and she has been preparing hard for the European Rowing Championships, for which she will return on May 25.

The return that the rowing world has been waiting for

The Instagram post by SPORTbible announcing the para-athlete’s comeback quickly went viral. The sporting world welcomed the news with joy, with everyone anxious to see the two-time world champion compete once again.

A cheeky but heartfelt comment read, “Cancer messed with the wrong woman. Great to see her back!” Another hailed her as a superhero saying, “Not all heros wear capes.”

Beating the disease and making a comeback has surely made Kennedy a prominent figure and inspiration to others, as this comment read, “And that ladies and gentlemen is legendary!! What a woman.” Another fan congratulated her saying, “Good on her! F*** you cancer.”

Although Erin Kennedy had to miss several races during her recovery period, she is now focused on claiming the title at the 2023 European Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia. She also hopes to compete in the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France, and bring home some medals for her nation.

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