A survivor's fight for herself with Nikki Joyal

Not Every Fight Ends at the Bell

This episode of the Haymakers for Hope podcast features Nikki Joyal. Nikki was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer at age 30 in 2015, shortly after having her first child. She went through intense chemotherapy and a double mastectomy before going into remission. In 2017, Nikki signed up to be a "Belle" for Haymakers for Hope, a charity that raises money for cancer research and survivorship through boxing events. This was a way for her to give back after surviving cancer.

Nikki was paired with coach Todd Parris, also a cancer survivor, who helped train her for 4 months leading up to the big fight night. The training and fighting was a transformative experience for Nikki. Nikki talks about how a cancer diagnosis completely changes your perspective on life.

Quotes:

(00:20:22) "You don’t need to be a fighter. You don’t need to be a cheerleader. You don’t need to tell people you’re okay. You’re not okay. That’s fine."

(00:33:33) "You can’t come out of that kind of treatment and that kind of scare and not be forever changed."

(00:37:01) "I approach everything with, I get to do this... If you can change your mindset to I get to do this versus I have to do this. That’s when it all comes together."

(00:37:59) "Do it and do it 100 percent and... really enjoy every piece of it because it goes by really fast."

Resource Links:

Donate to Nikki Joyal

Donate to Haymakers for Hope

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Haymakers for Hope is an official 501(c)(3) charity organization that gives you the opportunity to fight back against cancer. They also have charity bibs for races all across the country and host charity golf tournaments.

Not Every Fight Ends at the Bell is presented and produced by Haymakers for Hope, in partnership with StudioPod Media. Our producers are former fighters Jordan McMillan and Julian A Lewis II.