An Unstoppable Woman

“If you have cancer, that’s a good letter and number to have,” she said. “But it’s still cancer. It still kills people.”

Bernabeo learned quickly, though, that there was nothing she could do but fight it and keep as positive an attitude as possible. She leaned on her family and her friends. And she used tennis as motivation.

“Throughout my treatment, I kept telling myself, I’m going to get back onto the court,” Bernabeo said. “With breast cancer like this, they cut your chest muscles. It’s gruesome and painful. But I kept thinking about tennis, and maybe I’m crazy, but I was back on the court training five weeks after my surgery.”

Even crazier? She won a USTA League match just seven weeks after her procedure. 

“I look at this and think, ‘cancer did not change me,’” said Bernabeo, a teacher and consultant. “At least, it did not change who I am and what I can do. Every day we have to deal with what’s in front of us, and that’s all we can do. You don’t get to choose what happens every day, but you do choose how you deal with it.”

Like all cancer survivors, she has to stay diligent and proactive with her health. A captain of numerous USTA League teams and now the Assistant Tennis Coach at Radnor High School, she’s staying busy on the court — and of course with her kids and family.

“I feel very lucky to have what I have and to be surrounded by my friends and family,” she said.

As far as tennis goes?

“I’ve never played so well,” she said. “And I have a lot more to go."

Cruise Control Gear has joined USTA Middle States in sponsoring our Unstoppable Women in Tennis series, highlighting the incredibly strong women who are forces on and off the court in our Middle States community.