South Pole Doctor Dies
June 24, 2009 by Cherie Burbach
Filed under Women's Health
I was sad to hear about the death of Dr. Jerri Nielsen. She was the incredibly inspiring doctor who, while station at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Research Station, diagnosed and began treating her own breast cancer. She was all over TV after that, and wrote a book called Icebound.
She was at the Research Station in 1999, and during a routine check found a lump in her breast. Her diagnosed herself with breast cancer and treated herself with chemo agents that the “U.S. Air Force parachuted to the station the next month.” She had even performed a biopsy on herself.
She was just an incredibly courageous and uplifting person. She wrote her book and married, and traveled the country telling her story. But five years ago, her cancer returned, this time attacking her bones and liver. Later, the cancer spread to her brain. She died early yesterday morning, at the age of 57.
Image: Amazon
