Veronica Kelley-Albiez
Family member
Weaverville, CA
Biography
Veronica grew up in Gifford, IL and graduated from high school just 20 minutes outside of Champaign in Rantoul. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was a child, but survived thanks to the dedication of healthcare professionals responsible for her treatment. Veronica now works as a lifeguard, where she met the 2025 Bike America Team in Weaverville, CA.
Mom’s story
So I grew up in Gifford, Illinois, and graduated from Rantoul, which is about 20 minutes from U of I. But it was nice to find out what you guys are doing this for and why. It's hard to find people younger than myself that step into a cause and put their money where their mouth is, so to speak.
My mom had breast cancer. She passed away in 2015, but not from cancer because she was a survivor. It's because of groups like you guys that go out and raise money and awareness that new things are discovered every day. My mom had a partial mastectomy, and she had four kids [who she was] raising on her own in a farm community. She worked as a hairdresser, and then she was a home healthcare provider for AIDS patients. So to see her struggle through her breast cancer with just the strength, knowing that she was going to survive because she had kids and she had a purpose and a reason.
Watching you guys come here today, I'm gonna cry. Knowing what you guys bring to the table with all of this is super important. You know, every little pedal that you make, somebody's going to be helped and saved by what you do. And that's important because I was grateful. I got to have my mom for a really long time because of all of that. So I'm just going to say thank you for everything that you do. And I know there's so many more and so many people within our lives that are touched by cancer one way or another. But to see all of your faces and get a little touch of back home, it's the country, so y'all can stay there. But, of course, I live in a rural mountain town, so really I got nothing to say. I'm just really proud that you guys are representing where I come from and what you do. So, thank you.
“You look at a parent like, no, no, no, no, no, no. You can never leave me, because those are the rules.”
What was it like for you to grow up with a mother who was suffering from cancer?
I was older, so my younger siblings got a little more experience with it, other than I had to come back a lot to help. There's a lot of fear. You look at a parent like, no, no, no, no, no, no. You can never leave me, because those are the rules.
And so there was just a lot of fear. I think the doctors and the healthcare that we had during that time were really reassuring, which made iteasier for my mom. And I think too, hearing the silent crying, she'd never do it in front of us, you know, but there's always that shower that you walk by in a small house and it's not just the water you hear.
But like I said, she fought hard, and there's a lot of after effects of it too. It's not just the cancer. It's what the cancer then causes in the rest of your body. She battled a lot with that. And I mean, me and my siblings still talk about it to this day. And for us, it's a badge of honor in a way for what she did and what she went through. And never, in her best way, she never let it affect us, which I'm really grateful for. It would be, “yes, someone has to drive me to chemo today, but that's fine. I need to get behind the wheel anyway.” But I think that's how it affected us the most. We sort of rallied up.
what makes a healthcare provider super helpful or someone that you are willing to trust?
[Someone] who treats you normal. [Someone who] isn't all, “oh, oh.” Someone who just goes, “okay, we're gonna be partners, we're gonna be teammates.” I have some friends here that are battling cancer, several different kinds. And just having someone come in and doesn't wanna coddle you or make you feel less than because of the position you're in, because they never made my mom feel less than. It was just like, “okay, Vera, we're gonna do this.” And she went, “okay.” And I think anybody who's sick, that's kind of the number one thing. Don't make me feel sick. Understand the days I'm not feeling my best, but don't make me feel sick.
“And I think anybody who’s sick, that’s kind of the number one thing. Don’t make me feel sick. Understand the days I’m not feeling my best, but don’t make me feel sick. ”
A video of Veronica’s conversation with the team can be found on our Portraits Project YouTube channel here.