Aggie's Story...
Agatha (Aggie) Barnes Summers, a young mother of two courageously fought Triple Negative stage three breast cancer from November of 2008 and sadly lost the battle on July 21, 2010. Aggie was diagnosed in November 2008 and immediately began an aggressive treatment program. Once she finished her treatments and after being in remission for three weeks, in August 2009, she went back to the hospital. An MRI showed mulitple tumors on her brain. Aggie began a series of radiation treatments including several Gamma Knife procedures to her brain.
Aggie grew up in Memphis and met her husband in her twenties. She completed nursing school and had a very successful career as a cardiovascular ICU nurse at Methodist Germantown in Tennesse. Aggie nurtured many back to health and went above and beyond to check on patients even after their release from the hospital.
Her parents, Chuck and Mary Barnes of Pocahontas, Arkansas stayed by her side not only her entire life, but through all of her illness. She dearly loved her very supportive husband, Jay, and two wonderful little children, a daughter, 7 years old and a son, 4 years old. Jay's parents, Tommy and Beverly Summers and Jay's sibling's of Somerville, Tennessee were, and continue to be, a huge support system to the children and Jay.
Although this was a terribly painful and quickly destructive disease, Aggie always had room for a smile and sometimes even a joke or two. Just being around her made one realize how lucky we are and that no matter what - as long as we have faith in God, friends and family we can persevere. And that is our goal with AGGIE'S HOPE. We want Aggie's faith, courage and life to persevere and we want to make known this terrible disease that affects so many women.
Through AGGIE’S HOPE BENEFIT FUND, our goal is help Aggie’s family every way we can. She touched so many of our lives and we owe to her our prayers and support.
Unfortunately, medical bills and her children’s future weighed heavily on her mind. Many of us who knew and loved her have worked to set up AGGIE’S HOPE BENEFIT FUND. It’s a fund to raise awareness about breast cancer, raise funds to help with extensive medical bills, and most importantly, honor Aggie.
To read our blog that started in 2009 and documents her journey, please click this link.
All donations go directly to support Aggie’s medical bills and help support her children’s education and daily expenses. No gift is too small and everything helps.
To find out more about who is sponsoring this site, please click here.
Upcoming Events in Aggie's Honor
December 4, 2010
St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend
We are planning on having a large group of folks from all over the country coming to Memphis to raise money for Aggie's Hope by running the St. Jude Marathon (or the half marathon or the 5K).
Please visit the events page for more info.