Trucking veteran Ingrid Brown shares cancer journey to save others

Got impressed with the story of Ingrid Brown a 40-year trucking veteran a tireless advocate for the trucking industry and uses humor and honesty to share her cancer story to save others. This was covered in FrieghtWaves and share it here... 

Ingrid Brown, a 40-year trucking veteran from Zionville, North Carolina, is a tireless advocate for the trucking industry. 

Since being diagnosed with melanoma in 2017, Brown, an independent owner-operator with more than 4 million miles under her belt, has been sharing her skin cancer journey and advocating for others to get regular checkups and screenings.

On June 1, 2017, Brown said she was headed to Houston, Texas, in her beloved 2017 389 Peterbilt named “Miss Faith,” when she received the call from her doctor confirming her cancer diagnosis. He wanted her to come to his office in Chicago the next day. 

“I told him that I was on the road and still had eight or nine drops, wouldn’t be back for about eight days and that I would call him back when I returned home,” Brown told FreightWaves. 

“My doctor was like, ‘Do you realize you have cancer and need to have surgery as soon as possible,’” she said. 

A little over a week later, Brown flew to Chicago for melanoma surgery on her side but was back on the road three weeks later. Nine months later she underwent major throat surgery to remove more cancer but again took little time off to recover.

She said that’s how she’s wired. 

Brown said she’s been involved in the trucking industry since she was 18, first working for her dad’s construction company.

“Yes, there have been times that have been hard, but I’m not angry,” she said. “I view this as a journey to educate and help others. If I can save just one person, then this all has been worth it.”

Over the past three years, Brown has undergone eight surgeries to remove cancerous spots. Her latest surgery was on Feb. 12,  to remove melanoma from her lip and leg, which she shared on her Facebook page. 

“It’s important that people know this could happen to them and to get checked,” she said.

Read more about the article at Freight Waves.