CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. — Cabarrus County Democratic state senate candidate April Cook received a diagnosis in February no one ever wants or expects: breast cancer.
But she carried on with her campaign. She is running for state senate while juggling chemotherapy.
[ ALSO READ: Michael Whatley raised $5M for campaign last quarter ]
The Political Beat’s Joe Bruno sat down with Cook to discuss her cancer journey and her run for Senate District 34.
You can see their conversation below:
Joe Bruno: When did you find out that you had breast cancer?
April Cook: So I found out that I had breast cancer on February 27th, and that was a huge game changer for me.
JB: Because you had already been running for what, a couple weeks at that point?
AC: Since October, they started approaching me back in August of last year about running for the seat, and I finally committed in October and was, you know, getting ready, working behind the scenes, and getting volunteers together, and then this diagnosis came.
JB: There’s never a good time to have cancer. There’s never a time when you’re expecting to be diagnosed with something as traumatic as this, but when you found out that you had breast cancer and you’re in the middle of this political campaign, how were you feeling?
AC: In the beginning, I didn’t know what my prognosis was going to be. I just knew I had cancer, and I didn’t know what the stage was. And initially, with triple negative breast cancer, a stage four diagnosis is around 12 months on average, and for whatever reason, my mind went straight there without knowing what stage it was. And I had had a friend that just passed away three years ago of stage four triple-negative breast cancer, and she was very close to me and ran a free and charitable clinic in our association. So I immediately called the caucus, and I said I can’t do it. I’m sorry. You need to find someone else. But in that time, you know, in about within seven weeks, I knew that it was stage two that I was going to have a great prognosis, and you know that just gave me my second wind at that point.
JB: So you made the decision to stay in.
AC: Well, I was so impressed by the number of people that came forward and said, “We believe in you. You’re a breath of fresh air. Your common sense approach is what we need in Cabarrus County, and so many had given me campaign donations that I felt like it was my responsibility to live up to my end of the bargain. Now, to say that my children were real happy about it, probably not. They wanted me to focus on my health, and I totally understand that. But on another perspective, it gives me something to do to distract me from chemotherapy that I go to every week, and I’m excited about it.
JB: So, what is the treatment plan? What so you go to chemotherapy every single week?
AC: Every week, every Friday, I have chemotherapy for 12 weeks, and then I have another three months of a different kind of chemotherapy every three weeks for three months. After that, so I should be wrapping up the chemotherapy in September, and then I’ll keep on with the immunotherapy until April of next year.
JB: This is a lot going on right now. You’re running for office. You’re going through treatment, and like you just said, this is something for you to do and think about while you’re undergoing these treatments.
AC: Well, it certainly is, but because of the work that I’ve been doing for the past 30 years serving the uninsured, it really drove home why I needed to stay in this race. And I thought about it the day I had to go for my biopsy. The receptionist slid a piece of paper under the little window, and she said, “This is your responsibility today. And I picked it up, and it was 30-$800 And I have insurance, and I got really teary-eyed. And she said, “Well, don’t worry. We could set up a payment plan or whatever. And I said, “I’m not worried about myself. I’m worried about the lady that might be behind me that doesn’t have insurance. What does she do when you slide that piece of paper to her? Does she turn around and walk off? Does she just accept fate? And that’s what bothered me. And at that moment, I. If I had a chance of life, I knew I had to stay in this race for all the people that don’t have insurance that are fighting every day a terrible diagnosis.
JB: Tell me about the work that you do do with the uninsured.
AC: That is my passion. I have been doing this work for about 30 years. Back in 2000, I co-founded a free medical clinic up in Huntersville, and over the last 30 years, that clinic has seen over 10,000 individuals and provided, you know hundreds of thousands of appointments. In 2020, excuse me, 2022, I was asked if I would be the CEO of the statewide association of all the free and charitable clinics, and at first, you know, I turned them down because I love the hands-on with patients, hearing their stories, seeing the impact, watching when someone has access to care how it truly impacts their family, their family life, and their economic future because they’re able to work, but it didn’t give me a lot of time for visionary work. And going to the state level would give me that time. It would also give me a bigger voice up in Raleigh, and so I spent a lot of time, you know, advocating for the uninsured in Raleigh
JB: This is a competitive district, but it’s traditionally GOP. Are there any issues where you see yourself having common ground with the Republican Party that you want to work on if elected?
AC: At the moment, I can’t think of a specific thing, but I will tell you this: my whole platform is bringing people back together. The polarizing issues that are keeping us this far apart are not helping our communities. They’re not helping our children. They’re not helping us move forward, and I think it’s time that we start working again the way we used to across the aisles to find the best solution, to vet our ideas, to see how we can make impact with the majority of people. That’s where I want to go.
JB: What do you think separates you from your opponent?
AC: I would like to say it’s because I’m coming into this as a non-politician. It was not on my bucket list of things to do in my life, and with full transparency, when the party first came to me, I turned them down because, you know politics has just gotten so chaotic, and I don’t think people are looking at people’s character anymore, and in their integrity, and that is something I’ve always prided myself and taught my children that that’s the one thing you own that no one else can own for you, or take from you, is your character and your integrity. And so, for me, once I made that decision, even though it’s not comfortable going into politics, I know what I’m bringing to it is common sense, and I really want to work for the people and not for the power, or not to be? It’s not about being a senator. It’s about making change, and that’s what I’m going to work for.
Cook is facing former representative Kevin Crutchfield this November. Joe Bruno will interview him this week. The interview will air on next week’s Political Beat.
Senate District 34 includes most of Cabarrus County, including Harrisburg, Concord, and Mount Pleasant.
>> You can watch Bruno’s full interview with Cook in the video at the top of the page.