In Memory of New England Model, Sarah Wilfert
In 2011, 33 year old Sarah Wilfert was working at Microsoft in Seattle with a 3 and 6 year old at home. Though young and relatively healthy, she was plagued by a constant feeling of sickness and persistent rashes. Seeking out multiple doctors, she struggled to find answers. It was at Disneyland on the teacup ride that she had this realization something was really wrong. Later that week, she found a mass on her breast and instantly thought, “how could I have not noticed?”
She immediately went into a breast center, an experience she notes was surreal: “I didn’t even know these centers existed. You just go in a curious person and you come out with a breast cancer diagnosis.” Noting that much of cancer is living with paradoxes, Sarah says, “my whole world crashed, even though I finally had my reason for why I wasn’t feeling well.”
The next year was filled with treatment- a single mastectomy, lymph node surgery, chemo and radiation. In the middle of treatment, she and her family relocated back to the east coast to be closer to family for support. It was a trying time, but she overcame and for the following seven years she lived life in maintenance mode. She did a full seven years of hormone therapy, took Tamoxifen and got yearly scans.
Eventually Sarah chose to wean off Tamoxifen because it began impacting her eye site. Looking back, she also believes the drugs led to other random symptoms, chiefly brittle bones, which led to a particularly harsh arm break after a small fall in 2018.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t until 2020- mid pandemic- that a routine scan Sarah thought would confirm her survivorship ended with a stage 0, secondary breast cancer diagnosis in her remaining breast. She would have a second mastectomy.
This time around, she decided to “listen to the whispers before they become screams” and took steps to approach recovery differently. She left her job to focus on helping her children through schooling during the pandemic and put special emphasis on her own physical health. Among other things, she started attending regular physical therapy and when persistent pain wouldn’t fade, she was sent for an MRI. The scan revealed metastatic bone disease in her pelvis.
Eventually, cancer would be found in her bones, spine, and ribs. She received radiation to help shrink the cancer but notes, “you have to take such good care of yourself. You have to be vigilant about doctors and second opinions because a lot of things might not be connected doctor to doctor. I feel ashamed I didn’t say ‘give me an MRI’ immediately after the stage 0 diagnosis in 2020. It could have saved my bones. I am trying to shed a lot of shame around having this disease.”
In the months following, Sarah found herself in and out of ER’s, facing such intense hip pain that she was constrained to a wheelchair. A complete hip replacement in 2023 “totally changed my life” and allowed her back on the ski slopes, doing what she loves with her family. She also entered a clinical trial: “you are giving your body to medicine – with a lot of time and sacrifice- to hopefully help you, but also women in the future.” It’s a remarkable selfless attitude and despite the metastatic diagnosis, Sarah ended our time together emphasizing that she wouldn’t trade the perspective this diagnosis has given her.
Her perspective on the disease and Runway’s role around it was never more evident than after last year’s show, where Sarah e-mailed our team saying, “Wow, last night was amazing! My husband and I were there to cheer on Abby, Ashley, Katie, Christina, Liz, and Renee– all women who are young MBC thrivers. I was filled with hope and joy and sorrow and comfort knowing so many, wow so many people, were there to support families going through what my family has been going through too. Your purpose and event helped me to feel so much love. I have been to research fundraisers which are important too, but this event and your organization’s mission is really such an important source of inspiration and literal lift for families that are bravely facing this journey.”
Sarah was able to join our community at the Recovery Retreat in the spring of 2024 where she instantly connected with and inspired other metastatic models and patients. We were so excited to welcome her onto our stage and cheer her on as she danced down the runway- a feat she fought so hard to be able to do. We were deeply saddened to find out she passed in late July, surrounded by her loving and amazing family.
We wrote this blog because we wanted to honor her story and the time she took to so generously- and vulnerably- share her journey with us. Nights like The Runway Show ensure children like Sarah’s have a place to dance in honor of their mother’s legacy for years to come. We pour ourselves into our daily work so that families like hers have funding available so as to give them space to grieve. We know Sarah’s story serves to remind us all of the hope and love our models have to offer all of us and we plan to dance in that spirit this October.