Never Give Up: Surviving Breast Cancer and a Traumatic Car Accident

In 2022, 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 670,000 deaths were recorded (World Health Organization, 2015). Breast cancer occurs in every country of the world in women at any age after puberty but with increasing rates in later life.

Meet Henny Norwood.

Norwood was born in Sindelfingen, Germany in 1951.

In April, Norwood went to have her routine mammogram. Since her mother had breast cancer, Norwood is considered to be in the risk group and was recommended to have a mammogram done every two years. Two weeks following her mammogram, she recieved a letter in the mail that explained that they found something in her left breast that did not look normal. After being referred to a breast center in Tübingen where she had another mammogram and biopsy, the doctors informed her that it was not one tumor but multiple cancerous spots. Even with this news, she says that she thought, "Thank you, Jesus," because she was grateful that the doctors said that her cancer was caught in the early stages

"Every week I had two or three appointments," Norwood says, explaining that there were a number of different tests her doctors had to do before the surgery could happen. "They have to examine the whole body to see if it spread."

Although the initial news was not so devastating for Norwood, the true shock occured when, about a week before the surgery, the doctor informed Norwood that she would need her whole left breast removed rather than just some of the tissue because they were not sure how deep the spots went in her body. She admits she was "in a stage of shock."

"After I had got home from the hospital, I had lost almost six pounds," Norwood says thining about the removal of her breast.

"Sometimes when I look in the mirror [or] when I take a shower and there is nothing [there]. I have to be sensitive on that side. I can't wash it the way I used to, but it looks good," she says with an air of contentment.

What the doctors tell her now is that, since her surgery on the 18th of September, she has been recovering remarkably well, especially considering she is diabetic.

Henny Norwood taking her friend's dog for a walk. (Photographed by Dani Fielder)

"So, the whole full health picture, I shouldn't be here anymore," Norwood says while considering all the medical scares she has had. "On one side, it taught me more that without God, we cannot function but with God(...)I don't think on my own I would have ever been able to [do it]."

She goes on to describe her accident she had in 2019 at the age of 67. She remembers it was February 4th, and she picked up a woman she knew for a physical therapy appointment. After helping her friend into the car, she went around and opened the driver side door. Her jacket, however, got stuck on the hand crank used to put her window down causing her to fall. The car was parked on a steep street, and her emergency brakes, which did not work well at the time, released. The car began to roll with her attached. "My whole left side, basically my face, slid over the concrete about six or seen meters," Norwood tells.

When trying to recall the events on that day she says, "Out of the whole thing, I still don't remember nothing. (...)I still don't know what happened."

Norwood explains that a week prior to her accident, she had her diabetes medication changed and questions whether that could have been the cause saying, "that was the only thing different from my regular [every day]."

"Whatever [it was], I don't care. (...)I was unconcious. I found myself again, a month later, waking up out of a coma in the hospital in Stuttgart, [Germany], and people told me that my whole face had been torn off."

After a thirteen-hour surgery in which five surgeons working on her had to pull the skin back over her face, Norwood's son was told to prepare for the worst because they did not believe she was going to recover. Norwood, however, was put in a medically induced coma that lasted almost a month. "Every bone was broke, every nerve was cut, every muscle was cut."

"They fixed everything on the inside, meaning everywhere where a normal person [has] bones, I have metal pieces," she explains while pointing at the metal screws in her jaws.

"We all have emotions. We all have pain. I still give God all the credit because without him, I wouldn't be sitting here today," she says.

When asked what she'd like to leave with people, she says, "never give up. (...)Life is not a rose garden from the beginning to the end. And since everybody has a life story (...) listen to other people," she says. "You can only find out things about people, about other situations, by talking, by asking."

Henny Norwood sits smiling in her friend's home. (Photographed by Dani Fielder.)

Henny Norwood sits, resting on a bench, during her walk. (Photographed by Dani Fielder)

Works Cited

WHO. “Breast Cancer.” World Health Organization, 14 Aug. 2025, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/breast-cancer.