Twenty years after a lifesaving bone marrow transplant, Lori McFate is celebrating her survival by taking on a new challenge: the New York City Marathon.

McFate is a Bettendorf resident and 20-year cancer survivor. She’ll run the marathon on Nov. 1 while raising money for Cancer Support Community, formerly known locally as Gilda’s Club Quad Cities.

Every dollar she raises will go toward the organization that supported McFate, her son and her parents throughout her cancer journey.

“It’s been a wild 20 years. 90% fabulous,” McFate said. “Obviously some hardships come along with the transplant, but I’m grateful every day to be here.”

McFate received a non-related donor bone marrow transplant on June 22, 2006, after battling T-cell lymphoma. She marked the 20th anniversary of the transplant this June at the Transplant Games of America in Denver, where she won three gold medals. Two were in track and field relay races and the other was in a triathlon.

Running has become a significant part of McFate’s life, and her 2026 anniversary year has included numerous races. She plans to compete in her first 100-mile race — Illinois’ Hennepin Hundred — in October, just weeks before the New York City Marathon.

But the marathon is about more than running.

McFate said Cancer Support Community was there for her family when she was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation and preparing for her transplant. Her young son was in elementary school at the time, while her parents served as caregivers and helped care for him during frequent trips to Omaha, where McFate’s transplant team was based.

“They could cover every age and every person involved in my cancer journey,” McFate said.

The organization’s support became particularly important about a year after her transplant, when McFate developed severe graft-versus-host disease, a potentially serious complication following a transplant.

“It became more than I could manage physically, emotionally, mentally and medically,” McFate said.

During what she described as a “very deep, dark time” in her life, McFate reached out to a social worker at Gilda’s Club.

“We had a very lengthy conversation about the hardships behind me, the hardships in front of me, but honestly the great life that I could have if I just stay strong and focus and move forward,” McFate said.

Twenty years later, she wants to make sure other cancer patients and their families have access to the same support.

“I feel very much responsible for giving back to them and giving back to this community that I love so much,” McFate said. “Making sure that people know that Gilda’s Club is out there. Cancer support help is available free of charge.”

McFate’s 20th anniversary year has included several other milestones. In May, she traveled to Brussels, Belgium, to meet Michael Henkel, the German donor whose bone marrow saved her life. Henkel had joined the bone marrow registry through DKMS-Germany in 2006 and was a 100% match for McFate.

The two had their first in-person meeting in 2013 after McFate was allowed to receive identifying information about her donor. They have stayed in contact since then.

During their meeting in Brussels, they had lunch, walked around the city and bought chocolate.

McFate said she had been dealing with another bout of graft-versus-host disease before the trip and described spending time with Henkel as a healing experience.

“I’ve been quite sick with transplant rejection, and this is the second time we’ve proven that close proximity, like lunch and chatting and strolling, my DNA recognizes his DNA,” McFate said. “It was a lifesaving moment for me that day.”

McFate also traveled to Washington, D.C., in May to advocate for supportive cancer care through Support is Care, an organization that recruited her as a cancer patient advocate with help from Cancer Support Community.

She said her experience has convinced her that cancer care must extend beyond medical treatment.

“It’s not about diagnosis, it’s not about the doctors, it’s not about the treatments,” McFate said. “It’s so much bigger. It’s a heavy lift emotionally, physically, financially, emotionally.”

Cancer Support Community provides free emotional, social and educational support to people affected by cancer and their families.

McFate said the need for those services is particularly important in Iowa, which she noted has one of the nation’s highest rates of new cancer diagnoses.

“Unfortunately, I believe that if you aren’t impacted by cancer today, you may very well be impacted by cancer sometime,” she said. “Obviously somebody very close to you will probably, if not you, and you will need those services.”

McFate was selected by Cancer Support Community nationally to represent the organization as a New York City Marathon runner. She acknowledged that taking on the race and its fundraising requirements is a significant commitment.

“It’s very scary,” McFate said. “It’s a big commitment, time-wise, financially, and then obviously the fundraising component.”

Still, she said the support she has received throughout her life has made the decision worthwhile.

McFate will also serve as the keynote speaker at Cancer Support Community’s Diamonds & Divas event in the Quad Cities on Oct. 1. Tickets and tables are available here.

To contribute to McFate’s fundraiser, you can check it out here.

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