NEED TO KNOW
A woman and her husband from California nearly died in a head-on collision on Easter Sunday in 2022
Two and a half years later, she was applying oil to her scars when she found a cancerous lump
Now cancer-free, the 30-year-old wants to inspire other women navigating breast cancer diagnoses
A woman from California survived a head-on collision, only to find a lump while applying lotion to her scars two and a half years later. She also lost her job.
Now cancer-free and recovering from surgery following a breast cancer diagnosis, she hopes to inspire others navigating medical crises.
“Enjoy every moment,” Wendy Sanchez, 30, tells PEOPLE of her hard-won perspective on life. “Spend time with the people you love, and the people that care about you.”
On Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022, Sanchez and her husband, Jonathan Barba, 33, were cruising on the Angeles Crest Highway in the San Gabriel Mountains when they were involved in a near-fatal collision. Sanchez has no memory of the incident.
“We were going down the mountain, and we just woke up at a hospital,” says Sanchez, who was airlifted to Huntington Health, an affiliate of Cedars-Sinai, in Pasadena with serious injuries, along with her partner. “They said we were in a car accident.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for details about the crash.
The accident left Sanchez with multiple broken bones and damage to her internal organs. Surgeons had to remove two feet of her small intestine and her colon. Barba broke his knee, his foot and had damaged his internal organs. He remained at the hospital for three weeks, while his wife was hospitalized for six.
Wendy Sanchez
The couple’s car following the crash in 2022.
At one point, Sanchez was on a ventilator. It was the longest the pair had been separated since their wedding day, she says.
“I would do good and then he would get bad, and then when he would get good, I would get bad,” recalls Sanchez. “So, they wouldn’t want to communicate how we were doing because it would just affect us physically and emotionally.”
When she was finally reunited with her husband, it was tear-inducing for everyone in the room.
“It was like The Notebook,” Sanchez’s sister-in-law told her of the moment, referencing the iconic 2004 romantic film. “You guys were so happy to see each other.”
Even after the couple was back at their Inglewood home, they had months of recovery ahead of them. Barba and Sanchez’s siblings took turns sleeping over and helping them eat, bathe and dress their wounds. It wasn’t until late summer that Sanchez and Barba were able to regain some independence.
While immensely grateful for their family’s support, Sanchez says they were also happy to have some time alone.
“We needed some calm because we didn’t have time to process everything,” she says.
By October 2023, Sanchez reached an important milestone: She was able to return to work.
Previously a front desk supervisor at a hotel, Sanchez’s post-accident restrictions meant that she was switched to a reservation coordinator position.
“That whole year, I felt like it was going great,” says Sanchez of returning to the hotel. “Everything was moving [and] flowing.”
But the happy current of her life came to another abrupt halt the following fall.
In October 2024, the young woman was putting oil on her scars from the crash when she felt a lump in her breast. When Sanchez told her husband that she feared it was cancer, he urged her to wait until she checked with her doctor.
Wendy Sanchez
Sanchez’s “Support Squad” following her cancer diagnosis.
“No, I have a really strong feeling it’s cancer,” Sanchez remembers responding.
A mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy confirmed her worst fears.
Sanchez learned she had triple-positive ductal carcinoma, stage one. Her first thought was that she was going to die, but her doctors eased her terror.
Sanchez immediately decided to return to the same hospital, Huntington Health, where her life had been saved two years earlier.
According to her medical oncologist, Niki Tank, MD, that type of cancer is more common in women ages 50 and younger.
“Breast cancer among people in Wendy’s age group tends to be very aggressive and spread quickly,” Tank said, according to Huntington Health. Sanchez’s doctors applauded her self-advocacy because women at an average risk for breast cancer normally don’t receive mammogram screenings until age 45. Experts aren’t entirely clear why the rate of breast cancer among younger women is on the rise, according to the medical center.
About a week after Sanchez informed her employer of her diagnosis — which needed to be treated quickly — she learned that she’d been let go.
Wendy Sanchez
Sanchez receiving treatment at Huntington Cancer Center.
“I got a notice and they told me that I had to leave my position because they no longer needed it,” says Sanchez. “I was like, ‘All of a sudden? No. That’s crazy.’ “
While she was disappointed with her employer’s decision, Sanchez had insurance through Medi-Cal (Medicaid in California) to cover her cancer treatments.
In May 2025, the tumor, five lymph nodes and Sanchez’s breasts were removed.
She says chemo and losing her hair were some of the most difficult parts of treatment.
“Chemo was really bad,” says Sanchez, who got emotional when her hair started falling out. “It’s something I don’t really wish upon anybody to ever get.”
Wendy Sanchez
The couple at a Dodgers game.
Eventually, she shaved her head — and made sure to record that brave act.
On Sept. 25, the 30-year-old had reconstructive surgery and received her breast implants. She chose to have a double mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy. The latter required radiation and could make reconstructive surgery more difficult if the cancer returned.
“It’s a decision nobody wants to take, but I had to make one,” says Sanchez, who is now recovering at home.
Barba, who worked at a car rental company, had to leave his job to take care of her throughout her cancer treatments. Through every challenge, they’ve supported each other and been lifted up by their family.
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For Sanchez, her goal is to feel better and start looking for a new job in a few weeks. She hopes to make an impact by sharing her story during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an international campaign in the month of October.
Sanchez has also made a point to find joy, starting with trips with her husband to Disneyland and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
“I’m not leaving things for later,” says Sanchez. “Those are the places that make me happy.”
Read the original article on People