Carmen Monge-Montero: Lucky to Have Met Iara Mantiñán Búa
Carmen Monge-Montero, Researcher and Patient Advocate at Youth Cancer Europe and Founder of Monge Consultancy, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Yesterday, a friend passed away.
This isn’t just another sad event – although yes, I am sad. But it’s also something more. Because the world just lost an incredible person. And I feel lucky – deeply lucky – to have met her.
Let me tell you a little bit about Iara Mantiñán Búa.
She was diagnosed with metastatic cancer over ten years ago. When I met her at the Inspire2Live conference, she had already been living with cancer for nearly eight years. And she completely changed the way I see palliative and metastatic cancer.
We often think of palliative care as something close to the end – as if people in that stage are already on their way out of this world, or that they’re forgotten. But Iara shattered that narrative.
She showed me that life doesn’t stop with a prognosis.
It’s never too late to live – fully, joyfully, purposefully. And we shouldn’t let people die before their time just because we give up on them.
I had the privilege of interviewing Iara for Mano. From the very first moment, I was inspired by her – her attitude, her story, her strength. In those 10 years after diagnosis, she didn’t just survive – she lived. Fully.
- She wrote a book and many blogs.
- She founded the Asarga association, which still exists today.
- She had a partner and a family.
- She enjoyed every moment with them!
- She traveled.
- She created.
- She gave a voice to others.
- She made her extra time matter.
And I hope I can do the same with mine.
Traveling was part of her soul, but because she had metastatic cancer, no insurance would cover her, even though she was stable and strong. She faced so many barriers, yet she never stopped pushing.
Just this year, she was diagnosed with another rare form of cancer, already in her brain. Her prognosis wasn’t good. But still, she tried. She even paid for an ambulance to take her from A Coruña to Madrid – because she wanted to live. She did everything in her power to do so.
And finally, it was her time.
But what a gift that we got those 10 extra years of Iara in this world.
She changed lives – mine included.
So if you want to learn more about this amazing woman who just left us, I invite you to watch this video. Because Iara deserves to be remembered.
Gracias, Iara!”
Proceed to the video attached to the post.
More posts featuring Carmen Monge-Montero.
-
Challenging the Status Quo in Colorectal Cancer 2024
December 6-8, 2024
-
ESMO 2024 Congress
September 13-17, 2024
-
ASCO Annual Meeting
May 30 - June 4, 2024
-
Yvonne Award 2024
May 31, 2024
-
OncoThon 2024, Online
Feb. 15, 2024
-
Global Summit on War & Cancer 2023, Online
Dec. 14-16, 2023