Have you ever met someone who seems to always have a light inside them, even when the clouds are dark? One of those people was Jessica Hanna. This woman, a mother of four, had to deal with what seemed like one of the hardest things that life could throw at someone. She dealt with it with such grace and faith, though, that it’s still hard to believe she’s gone.
Jessica Hanna died on a quiet April evening with her family by her side. The light was dimming around them, making it look like the day itself was sad. She was pretty active on Instagram under the handle @blessed_by_cancer. On April 6, her husband Lamar told everyone that Jessica had quietly gone to what he called her “eternal reward.”
She didn’t fight an inanimate foe; she fought breast cancer, which she found out she had when she was only 14 weeks pregnant with her son Thomas. In 2020, several doctors told Jessica to choose her own life over the life of her unborn child. However, she made a decision that showed her strong faith and unwavering support for life. She didn’t go with the usual ways of treating her baby because she thought they could put him in danger.
They told her about the 13-centimeter-tall growth and the 43 lymph nodes where the cancer had spread after the surgery. But because she was pregnant, they couldn’t scan her whole body. It must have been like walking on a wire with your eyes closed, right?
During her hard times, her faith kept her strong. Many people looked up to Blessed Solanus Casey and heard Jessica talk a lot about him. She went to his grave in Detroit after each cancer treatment and prayed for a miracle. Somehow, after she gave birth, her tests showed no signs that the cancer had spread. It looked like her wishes had been answered, but the relief was only short-lived. By 2022, the cancer had come back in a brutally aggressive stage 4.
However, this story isn’t just about pain; it’s also about sharing that pain. Jessica went on social media just two days after being told she had cancer, which started a chain reaction of faith and community. Her Instagram wasn’t just a record of her health; it was a safe place for many to share, heal, and make prayers into a quilt of support and comfort. Her fan base grew over time and now numbers over 45,000.
Even during her worst times, like the emergency surgeries and heart problems she wrote about in a March post, she had a powerful point of view: her pain was her sacrifice, her punishment. She saw her pain as a way to make up for what she had done, to mix her troubles with Christ’s, giving her pain meaning.
Jessica often thought about her path and whether it was to teach kindness in death or to see a miracle. It could have been both in the end. She was right when she said that every Good Friday there is an Easter Sunday. The ideas she planted and the love she spread may be brought back to life now that she is dead.
She leaves behind her husband, her children, and thousands of people who found strength in her strength.
One Last Thought…
Did Jessica Hanna live longer in her last years than some people do in their whole lives? Doesn’t it make you think? About how strong faith is, how powerful a promise is, and what we can handle when we have hope in our hearts. She’s gone, but what about the light she turned on? Oh, it’s still very bright.
