Julie Randall was a 50 year old working mother of two teenage girls when in 2012, following a sudden seizure at work, she was told she had stage four metastatic melanoma in her brain, pancreas, lungs, and liver.
Julie refused to accept her terminal prognosis and set about researching her condition only to find that (based on clinical data) no one had ever survived such a diagnosis.
Undeterred and showing remarkable resolve Julie identified a clinical trial in Portland, Oregon, her best (and only) hope. That hope was dashed when she was told the trial was full (only 70 places were available, all of them set aside for, and filled by, American citizens). Not one to take no for an answer Julie “nagged” her way onto the trial where (after overcoming serious setbacks) she became known as “Patient 71”. Julie’s story of survival was covered by “60 Minutes” and recounted in her moving memoir, “Patient 71”.
Today, 6and 1/2 years on, Julie is cancer free and possesses a perspective few of us will ever know. Hearing Julie speak is life changing. Having overcome her death sentence, this charismatic 56 year old mother can teach us all how to live better, more and meaningful lives and not to let fear stop us from being who we really are.
