From the moment Darnell Wynn was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she has refused to let the disease keep her from her passion — running.

This weekend she gathered together a group of supporters and ran the Partner Re 5K route to raise awareness for ovarian cancer. She is a two-year survivor.

“I wanted people to see that I am healthy,” she said. “If I can raise awareness and get one woman with symptoms to go to the doctor, it will be worth it.”

When she first came out of surgery in the United States one of her main concerns was when she’d be able to run again. “The doctor said I would have to rest for six to eight weeks and then we would work out chemotherapy,” she said.

She was sent home to heal before returning for chemotherapy. “I came home, and never thought about cancer,” she said. “I thought I’d just had surgery and needed to heal. It wasn’t until I went back and entered the chemotherapy room with my son that I really understood it was cancer. Then I really broke down.”

During and after treatment she ran whenever she could. She even participated in races — although she sometimes had to run slower than she once did.

“It was brutal but I finished,” she said. “We all try to hold onto something that makes you feel like you have control and you are normal.

“One of the symptoms I had was that I couldn’t feel my feet. I did suffer a bit from bruising and blistering.

“The doctors were saying I needed to cut back but I wanted to hold onto something.

“For me the exercise was probably why I have been able to deal with it with a smile.”

Eleven months after she was diagnosed she was feeling well and had just started a new job, when she was rediagnosed.

When she first developed ovarian cancer, her symptoms had been bloating, vaginal discharge and back pain.

This time, the only signs were elevated levels of ovarian cancer markers in her blood. “I went back to my gynecologist in tears, but apparently it is pretty common,” she said. Fifty per cent of women with early stage ovarian cancer will have recurrences of it, and the rate goes up for women in the later stages.

The Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre is observing September as Ovarian Awareness Month. Ms Wynn hopes it will help more women learn the symptoms and risk factors.

“The symptoms are often masked and a lot of women don’t know that if you have a close family member who had breast cancer, you are at risk for ovarian cancer,” she said. “I had two sisters who had breast cancer. Every year I went for pap smears. A Pap smear only shows up cervical cancer; it doesn’t show ovarian cancer. We think we are doing all the right tests. “Women should know if they have a history of breast cancer that they should have a regular internal ultrasound as well, in addition to a Pap smear.”

According to the American Cancer Society, only 15 percent of ovarian cancer is caught early. Visit www.cancer.bm/get-involved/sign-up-for-events/ovarian-cancer-awareness-month-events-2014.