'I’m excited to come back': Chatham-Kent councillor returns after undergoing breast cancer treatment

A Chatham-Kent councillor is set to return to her council seat on Monday evening after undergoing breast cancer treatment over the last 10 months.

West Kent’s Melissa Harrigan announced in December she had been diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma after previously discovering a lump in her breast 2 years prior. Harrigan then took a leave of absence to focus on her health.

“I'm excited to come back,” Harrigan exclaimed.

“For me, returning back to council really represents that shift from being in cancer treatment to a cancer survivor and getting back to the things that I enjoy doing,” Harrigan explained. “So I'm excited. I'm really excited about Monday.”

She continued, “It's been a long year and I tell people that it actually feels sometimes like a bit of a dream. Some of the things that you go through as a cancer patient when you go through chemotherapy, you really have to mentally work through that every day and the memories I have of February and March are very much blurry because of the challenge that chemotherapy presents.”

Throughout her cancer journey, Harrigan shared many updates on social media and said it was important to raise awareness about self-breast exams and taking care of your personal health.

“I remember thinking when I had no hair and was going through chemo, ‘This is going to be a long, long time.’ And you know, here we are two seasons later and I'm feeling better. I'm lucky to be feeling better. Lucky to be in recovery and really, really feeling good about the energy that I have to bring back to the table.”

She told CTV News, “Sharing my journey on social media was so important because I was 35 when I was diagnosed with cancer. That's 15 years sooner than when you are supposed to start getting screened for regular mammograms.“

“I thought if it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody,” she said.

Meantime, the Harrigan-inspired “Her Fight is Our Fight” pink t-shirt campaign raised over $30,000 for local cancer efforts with the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.

“I am forever grateful to the community for really wrapping their arms around the Her Fight is Our Fight campaign,” Harrigan said. “We had our first ever ladies golf tournament in Tilbury that raised a lot of money for it. We had some individual donors and groups who stepped forward, and at a time in my life when I was really in a dark place, the Her Fight is Our Fight campaign really let me to kind of channel that energy into something positive. And I really needed that during the course of the treatment.”

Harrigan added, “It's really fitting for me that this is kind of the first step for me to come back into the working world is on the Council meeting on Monday because it's one of the things I'm really passionate about and I really care about.”

Harrigan said, “I love my community. I love this town, and I'm here to make it better in the same way that I have really seen and learned to value that time I spend with my family and the people I love.”

The Chatham-Kent council meeting starts Monday at 6p.m.