CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jenn Andrews inspired thousands of people in the Charlotte area last year when she made the bold decision to have her foot amputated.
This was after a pedicure led to the discovery of a nodule on her foot which ballooned into cancer. Andrews went into remission, but the tumor came back.
"I asked him (the doctor) if I didn’t want to deal with this again – what was my best course of action? His response was one that I never expected to hear. It was to eliminate my foot," she blogged.
2018 ended up being the worst year of her life, Andrews told NBC Charlotte Today.
"I wish that I never had to go through it, but now I use my story to help other people, so in that there is purpose," she said.
Andrews accomplished a lot last year. The amputation was done on March 12, and she relearned to walk in less than eight weeks. Then she ran a 5K on September 29.
To end the year with a bang, she created the foundation -- Move For Jenn. By December, the foundation had already granted its first running blade to a local firefighter who lost his leg due to bone cancer.
"Part of me feels a little sad that I've had a year without my leg, but then the other part is empowered, and I think, wow, I did a lot in a year," Andrews reflected.
And there's more to come.
"I know that the support that I've received is not the norm; I'm forever grateful for that," Andrews said.
Within the next few weeks, she will be running an 8K and a 10K.
The foundation was just granted a 501c3. With that, they hope the support to impact others will grow in 2019. Plans for a golf tournament and a 5K are in the works now.
If you want to #MoveForJenn, go to the foundation's website to learn more about supporting sarcoma research and granting prosthetics to sarcoma amputees.