Best friends Candy Beswick and Heather Millhorn have been through a lot together. They were sorority sisters in college, and after both started families, they purposely built homes across the street from each other in Avon. In 2016, these best of friends were both diagnosed with breast cancer, and only four months apart.
Millhorn, who works in an OBGYN office, is no stranger to seeing women go through the difficult trials of breast cancer, but learning this time it would be her best friend left her speechless.
“It’s totally different when it’s your best friend. I was heartbroken and didn’t even know what to say,” Millhorn remembered.
She spoke with her actions, however, and helped Beswick with everything from the kids to just being there for emotional support. And with the health of her best friend in the forefront of her mind, Millhorn decided to get herself checked out and learned she also had cancer.
“I was angry at first,” remembers Beswick upon hearing the news. “I just kept asking, ‘Why did this have to happen to her?’ Because I knew what she would have to go through.”
The two went through chemo together, shaved their heads together and helped with day-to-day tasks when other wasn’t feeling good.
Fortunately, Millhorn and Beswick’s cancers went into remission.
With first-hand experience of what it means to have someone by your side, they were compelled to give back. On Feb. 28, Hendricks Regional Health hosted a training session for new counselors for Pink Ribbon Connection, a resource and emotional support service made up of breast cancer survivors. Heather and Candy trained together (of course) and are looking forward to helping other women through their journey.
“I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have her, so I can’t imagine what other people feel like if they didn’t have a Candy like I did,” Millhorn said. “It’s hard to explain, but it’s like she understood everything I was getting ready to go through. Every step.”
“We knew there was something that we had to do after this was over,” Beswick added. “God put this plan together for a reason.”
Millhorn and Beswick both have 15-year-old daughters who are best friends, and said their girls supported each other through everything too.
For information on Pink Ribbon Connection, visit pinkribbonconnection.org.
