WHITE RIVER VALLEY — I wrote last week about loving journalism and the human interest stories I have written, but there are always the tragedy that we write about, too. And not all human interest stories have a great ending.

In August I wrote about Beth Stewart, 35, of Springdale fighting a tough battle with triple negative breast cancer. Her story touched me as I’m sure it touched those who read it.

Beth was fighting this rare form cancer with every treatment available. She won one battle last year and spent a happy Christmas with her family thinking she was going to be fine, only to discover in May the cancer had returned and she had to fight on.

Unfortunately, cancer won the war.

I received word from a relative that Beth died at 1:40 a.m. on Sunday.

I have written many stories about people who are endowed with certain talents, who have unusual jobs, who have traveled to other countries, soldiers who have fought in every war since World War II, people who have lived to or beyond 100 years, but rarely have I had the privilege to interview someone who showed such spirited bravery as Beth Stewart.

She knew the cancer she was fighting could win in the end. Yet she was cheerful and so determined to beat it if at all possible. She said she was fighting for her young daughters.

When covering news we see and hear many sad events -- car accidents that claim lives, house fires thatinjure or claim lives, and sometime it will come one after the other -- sad news, bad news and it can sometime become a week of little good news to report. This happened more when I worked on a daily. None of us like those stories. We just know we have to report them.

Beth’s story was different for me.

As a mother myself, I understood her toughness and spirited battle to stay alive to see her daughters grow up. I knew how I would feel in her place.

I believe most mothers occasionally feel a fear of losing their children or a fear their children will lose them. I understood Beth’s determination to win if she could. I truly wish she had won.

Beth leaves her husband Vance, two young daughters Savanah, 8, and Sara, 10, many family members and this reporter/editor to mourn her loss.

Beth will always stand out as one of those special people I met and wrote about. I won’t forget her, and her family has my deepest condolences.

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Pat Harris is managing editor of the White River Valley News.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 10/15/2009

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