Roxanne Hall, a Covington resident for over 30 years, was originally diagnosed with Stage I Breast Cancer in October of 2004. Almost 5 years exactly in September of 2009, Roxanne received the news she thought she would never hear again, the cancer had returned. Roxanne had received mammograms every six months since her original diagnosis and in September when she went for her scheduled procedure t
hey discovered a lump and performed a biopsy and discovered that it was in fact cancerous. This new diagnosis of Breast Cancer was a completely different strand of Breast Cancer that was much more aggressive. Roxanne and her physicians both agreed it would best to have a double mastectomy because of aggressive form of cancer. On October of 2009, Roxanne began your journey through recovery as she had a double mastectomy performed by Dr Dillard at Rockdale Hospital. She also received 4 cycles of chemotherapy and several reconstructive surgeries throughout several months. Now we are proud to say that this fall, Roxanne will be celebrating 3 years cancer free! Roxanne’s friends and family joined forces during her recovery and hosted a motorcycle poker ride called “Ride for Roxy” in November of 2009. Over 150 motorcycles and countless amounts of vehicles were in attendance as they rode through Newton, Rockdale, and Henry Counties raising money to help with hospital expenses. The ride was such a huge success that at the end of the event, her friends, family, and some volunteers that didn’t even know Roxanne, helped raise over $14,000 for her benefit. It was in that moment that Roxanne’s daughter, Crystal Miller, of Conyers, GA vowed to “pay it forward” and created The Ride for Roxy Foundation. This foundation, over the past 3 years has benefited several local area women struggling with some form of cancer, primarily breast cancer. In a span of 3 years they have hosted 4 rides raising over $35,000 for the cause to help with medical expenses and other needs. In addition to helping local women, Roxanne and Crystal want to create a fund for women to be able to receive free mammograms and other preventative testing to help fight cancer with early detection. There are several woman that do not meet income guidelines to be able to qualify for state funded insurance nor can they afford private insurance. The Ride for Roxy Foundation hopes to be able to help fund these procedures free of cost and save lives with early detection. If it wasn’t for these annual or semi-annual procedures, Roxanne would not be able to tell her story today. Sadly, in October 2019, Roxanne lost her battle with Stage V Squamous Cell Cancer at the age of 61. Crystal and her family continue her legacy through the Foundation and will continue to help others and raise money for those in need.
