Rachel Shur is the founder and executive director of an award-winning nonprofit organization, but of all the titles on her purple business card, “cancer survivor extraordinaire” is the one that gives her the most pride.

With the power of positivity, the Moorpark native transformed adversity into purpose. Now, through the United Cancer Advocacy Action Network (UCAAN), she works to share the same optimism that she said saved her life with other cancer survivors.

“I survived the horrible diagnosis of cancer, and I embraced the experience and turned it into something greater than myself that is meant to help other people,” Shur said.

Striving to survive

In 2006, Shur, then 26, was in a car crash that unexpectedly saved her life.

The doctors at West Hills Hospital noticed Shur had severe bruising, so she got a blood test at the Ventura County Medical Center. There, doctors told her mother that Shur had acute promyelocytic leukemia, a rare form of cancer with a 10% survival rate.

But Shur did not learn about her slim chances of living until a decade later because her mother did not want her to lose hope—a decision, Shur said, she’s glad her mom made.

“My mom knew that I was a fighter,” said Shur, who was a 2.5-pound preemie. “She wanted me to always feel like I had the best chance of anybody.”

Hope, Shur said, was all she had, so she made a choice.

“I could cry, or I could laugh,” she said. “For me, being able to laugh—no matter how bad a situation was—was the only way.”

During what could have been a hopeless three-hour drive to the City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles County, Shur came out of the ambulance laughing.

She was unwavering in her commitment to positivity despite the dire circumstances.

Following her first round of chemo, the doctors put Shur into a drug-induced coma. When she woke up and a nurse began shaving her head, Shur again chose to laugh. She no longer had hair, but she still had her life and that was all that mattered.

After nearly a month of treatment, the cancer went into remission, and Shur was able to leave the hospital.

But after suffering from severe migraines, she discovered that the cancer was also in her spinal fluid, which was more difficult to treat. In November 2007, she underwent brain surgery, and the following spring she had a successful stem cell transplant.

The 41-year-old is now known as “the miracle patient.”

While recovering, Shur interacted with other survivors, making crafts and jewelry to bring them joy and inspiration. She also used Myspace to connect other cancer patients with resources.

“I was always trying to give people hope,” she said.

Striving to serve

Physically unable to continue her job as an office manager, Shur began volunteering at a cancer-related nonprofit. Motivated by the lack of transparency among many nonprofit organizations, she developed her own in 2009.

UCAAN offers cancer survivors customized resources, information about dental care and diet, personal fundraising programs, care packages, and more.

“The more patients that I talked to, the more I realized I needed to do more than what everybody else was doing,” said Shur, who wanted her organization’s services to be as targeted as possible. “UCAAN became so much bigger than I ever expected.”

Volunteer and board member Jessica Brandonisio is constantly inspired by and learning from Shur, even adopting a more optimistic attitude in her own life. She said Shur strives to provide others with the information she never had.

“Rachel survived because she is a fighter, but she doesn’t want anyone to have to fight the way she did,” Brandonisio said.

After more than five years of working with the nonprofit, Brandonisio wants those affected by cancer to know that there is someone who wants nothing more than to help them.

“Cancer patients who are struggling have more support than they realize,” Brandonisio said. “Rachel actually gets to know the people she is working with so she can provide them the best information.”

Shur said seeing survivors find hope makes the hard work worth it.

Mary Noble was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in June and was told she had three weeks to live. When she was in hospice, Shur visited her.

To help boost the 66-year-old Moorpark woman’s will to live, Shur shared her own recovery story.

“My mom knew that she didn’t want to (die), and I think Rachel really solidified that she didn’t have to: It was a choice,” said Marie Noble, Mary’s daughter. “What Rachel did was give my mom hope.”

Marie Noble said that if it weren’t for Shur and her binder full of customized resources, her family would not have had the knowledge nor courage to seek a second opinion, let alone treatment.

Mary Noble continues her fight against the disease.

“(Shur) legitimately seems to care about all the people that she’s advocating for,” Marie Noble said. “It means the world to our whole family that someone did the homework for us, and I think that that would make a difference for so many families.”

Shur’s advice to other cancer survivors?

“Think about all you want to do in your life,” Shur said. “Focus on what it is that you want and what is worth it to you. Your value is so important.”

Twelve years later, her organization has served over 11,000 survivors.

“I hope the impact is a positive one,” she said. “I hope I bring them advice and information that they wouldn’t otherwise have.”

For more information about UCAAN, including its Sept. 25 fundraiser, visit ucaan.org.