BUILDing Muscle

Employee News:

Karen Hand is not only building buildings, she’s building muscle.

Karen was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in August 2013 which was followed by 4 months of chemotherapy and multiple surgeries. Feeling weak as well as mentally and physically beaten up by the ordeal, Karen finally decided that it was time to take back her physical strength and began the BUILD Functional Fitness for Cancer Survivors program in September 2016. This is the first Crossfit program specifically designed for cancer survivors.  The program was designed by Sami Mansfield of Cancer Wellness for Life.

“I didn’t look weak, I functioned normally for day to day activity. It was the limitations to living life to the fullest that got me motivated to do something more. The inability to lift my 45 pound child, feeling pain from scar tissue when I tried to lay down on the floor to play with my son, feeling fatigued after climbing a flight of stairs and suffering from constant hip pain at night…that was my reality.”

The BUILD program was featured on Local Fox 4 station airing on August 14, 2017.  View the Video and Corresponding Article at http://fox4kc.com/2017/08/14/dozens-who-have-survived-or-are-fighting-cancer-gain-strength-from-kc-crossfit-group/