Danielle Epstein has come under fire after announcing she plans to run the London Marathon last weekend while raising money for cancer research on behalf of her ex-boyfriend, Jesse Fresen, who is battling cancer cancer.
It’s not racing or fundraising that gets Epstein criticized, but the fact that she left her boyfriend after he was diagnosed and said his illness was affecting his mental health.
Fresen, 37, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer, grade 4 medulloblastoma, in September 2022. He underwent surgery and had to learn to walk again. He also underwent six weeks of radiotherapy and is then expected to undergo nine months of chemotherapy.
Epstein says it all affected her mental health and she started having panic attacks. She says she broke up with Fresen not only because her illness was affecting her mental health, but also because her condition was not helping her recover.
After breaking up with Fresen, she then announced that she would run the London Marathon on his behalf and raise money for brain tumor research. The announcement was not well received by many and netizens had their say.
“How to be single forever, my story, by Danielle Epstein,” one woman posted on Twitter.
Epstein, a 32-year-old chemistry professor, spoke to the media and explained her side of the story and why she dumped Fresen. She says that although she felt like the worst person in the world for giving up on someone with cancer, the situation was not helping her.
She says she was constantly worried and sad about Fresen’s disease, she also had difficulty sleeping and eating. She had recurrent panic attacks and needed medication. She simply says that she is no longer in a normal state. She still loves Fresen and wants to support him. However, she realized that she could no longer be with him as a girlfriend.
One netizen went so far as to ask who Epstein was worse, Danielle or sex offender Jeffery.
Many have criticized Epstein for publicizing Fresen’s disease and related personal issues, all to gain attention and raise funds for the race.
When asked why she was coming forward on behalf of her ex-boyfriend, Epstein said she felt helpless but knew she had to do something.
The couple had begun considering a home purchase when Fresen began having repeated dizziness and vomiting. He was initially diagnosed with an ear abscess, but when the vomiting got worse he went back to the doctor, this time to a private practitioner. An MRI showed he had a brain tumour, which is usually diagnosed in children rather than adults. Epstein felt their lives had been ripped out from under their feet. After the operation, Fresen suffered nerve damage and was partially paralyzed on the right side of his face. He could not close his eye and had reduced vision in that eye.
“A day later, we knew it wasn’t going to work for us anymore,” says Epstein, who moved to live with his father in Thailand after the breakup. She says she doesn’t run much and has never run a marathon, but since Fresen often ran marathons, she thought it would be perfect to run a marathon on her behalf. She says training for the race took its toll, both mentally and physically, but adds it’s nothing like what her ex-boyfriend endured during his illness. “If he overcomes all of this, I can run a marathon,” she says.
Fresen says she doubted Epstein could run that far, having only run short distances with him and complaining all the time. He says he has earned respect for his ex’s discipline and resilience.
Whatever can be said about Epstein’s decision to leave her boyfriend and his decision to come forward on his behalf, however, she understood 14098 pounds or approximately 2.4 million Icelandic ISK for cancer research. The race took place this Sunday, April 23 and already race results are examined, there is no time recorded on her, so it is not clear if she ran at all.
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