Isabel Mestres: Despite everything we do, Cancer continues to touch us all, giving us no rest
Isabel Mestres, CEO of the City Cancer Challenge (C/Can), shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Despite everything we do, cancer continues to touch us all, giving us no rest.
Today, I’m heartbroken. I’ve lost a friend, a mentor, and someone who entered my life several years ago, but left far too soon. I wanted more time. I didn’t have enough.
Guillermo Rivera Rio joined City Cancer Challenge Board after a successful leadership career at Procter & Gamble. We were truly blessed to have someone of his experience, values, and vision guiding our mission to expand access to cancer care. He joined not for recognition, but to give back, and he gave fully.
He quickly became my “call-to” person, always there when I needed clarity, guidance, or calm. With his profesional tone and sharp insight, he often told me, “Isabel, you’re a bull, not a sheep – you don’t need pushing, you need slowing down.” He’d tease me for being too transparent, “Keep some cards for yourself!”, but behind the constructive feedback, I could feel in his eyes how proud he was, watching me grow as a CEO in those early years.
Toward the end, he called me to see me and say goodbye in person. Calm, generous, surrounded by his loving family. He told me to follow my dreams and that he believed there were greater things waiting for me. Even then, he was giving!
This is cancer.
It’s brutal, emotional, and unfair. But Guillermo faced it with grace and courage, and left us with wisdom, peace, and pride.
I’m crying as I write this, but I’m grateful. Truly blessed to have known him.
Thank you, Guillermo. Rest in peace. You’ll always be with us.”
More posts featuring Isabel Mestres.
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Challenging the Status Quo in Colorectal Cancer 2024
December 6-8, 2024
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ESMO 2024 Congress
September 13-17, 2024
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ASCO Annual Meeting
May 30 - June 4, 2024
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Yvonne Award 2024
May 31, 2024
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OncoThon 2024, Online
Feb. 15, 2024
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Global Summit on War & Cancer 2023, Online
Dec. 14-16, 2023