At 22, Hillary Russell found herself navigating a world suddenly rearranged. Early in 2025, her mother, Cheri, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 50. The timing was abrupt: Hillary was away from home finishing her final year of university in Fredericton, and her younger brother Sawyer was busy with competitive hockey. Her parents, who were normally immersed in their careers and active in the Charlotte County community, now found their days reoriented around a new reality, reshaped by hospital visits, medical schedules, and fears of the unknown.
Russell turned to photography as a way to process the shift. For a university course called Images and Insights, she documented a single weekend in March 2025, just before her mother’s first round of chemotherapy. Cheri had asked for a celebration before the difficult months ahead, and the family gathered with friends to fill three days with music, dancing, laughter, and togetherness.
The resulting photo essay captures fleeting moments—the shoes piled at the door, the hum of conversation in the kitchen, a quiet glance in the mirror before hair loss began. In her notes, Russell described the work as both intimate and ordinary, writing: “Motherhood doesn’t pause for illness.” Though it began as a class assignment, the project became a lasting document of resilience, joy, and the ways families hold fast at the threshold of uncertainty.
Russell has also taken on new roles in the wake of her mother’s diagnosis: fundraiser, community organizer, and emotional anchor. Meanwhile, her mother has had to navigate her own shift—learning to set boundaries, accept help, and let others step in when needed.
“Her sense of identity has definitely shifted,” Hillary said in an interview with The Courier. “But she’s still killing it as a mom.”
Out of this experience, Russell has revived Rah Rah for the Ta Tas, a community fundraising initiative that began in 2009 by Cheri’s group of friends and their daughters in memory of loved ones lost to breast cancer. This year, under the banner of Rah Rah for the Ta Tas 2.0, the effort will culminate with the CIBC Run for the Cure on October 5 in Fredericton, a national day of giving and awareness. Cheri has been asked to lead the first lap for the “Participants of Hope,” those who have or have had breast cancer.
In the lead-up, Hillary organized Sing for the Cure at Drewhaven in St. Andrews, an open-mic and silent auction evening featuring local musicians and her own performances. The event was as much about gathering as fundraising, channeling the Maritime tradition of music and community into support for a cause.
Russell has also been candid about the financial toll of cancer. Beyond medical procedures, there are travel costs, food, medications, and countless hidden expenses. “It’s expensive to be sick, and it’s shocking how expensive it is,” she said.
Her mother’s treatment plan has evolved over time. What was first expected to be a mastectomy became six cycles of chemotherapy, surgery, and additional treatments. She also underwent cold cap therapy at the Charlotte County Hospital, an uncomfortable procedure aimed at reducing hair loss.
When the Russells shared Cheri’s diagnosis publicly—after she rang the bell marking the end of chemotherapy—support poured in from neighbours, former students, colleagues, and families who had walked the same road. Hillary sees that openness as a kind of handoff, turning private struggle into collective strength.
Her message to others is simple: grace. She urges those carrying unseen burdens to go easy on themselves, and she invites the wider community to show up—whether by singing, baking, donating, or simply cheering for the Rah Rah for the Ta Tas team on October 5.
“Every single chemo treatment, she wore a shirt that said, ‘I’ve got this,’” Hillary said of her mother. “I don’t think that there’s ever hopelessness. I think that there is always hope.”
In a small town, gestures matter. And through her lens, her activism, and her resolve, Hillary Russell is reminding her community that hope is not only private—it is something to be shared.
