Promises Kept: Recording Secretary LaTonya Crisp to be Honored at Cancer Walk

Recording Secretary Latonya Crisp speaking after being honored at the 2023 Breast Cancer Walk Kickoff in the Bronx
Recording Secretary Latonya Crisp speaking after being honored at the 2023 Breast Cancer Walk Kickoff in the Bronx

Amidst thousands of joyous revelers, colorful floats, and waving flags, Local 100 Recording Secretary LaTonya Crisp marched in the NYC Pride Parade in Greenwich Village last year with a personal secret. She had cancer. Crisp had received the shocking cancer diagnosis just two days earlier. She was in great pain. Still, she was determined to keep her word.

“I made a promise to the Local 100 members of the LGBT community that I would be there for the parade, and nothing was going to stop me,” she said.

For her resilience, and for her years of support for the American Cancer Society, Crisp has been designated a Local 100 honoree for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in the Bronx on Oct. 22. While this will be her first Making Strides Walk as a cancer survivor, Crisp is no stranger to the event, which raises funds for research and support services for cancer patients and their families.

“No matter what borough – Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx – I’ve always walked,” Crisp, 50, said. Shortly after receiving her cancer diagnosis in June 2022, Crisp, a Bus Operator, learned that it was Stage Four. That means the disease had spread from the point of origin to other parts of the body. Her cancer’s reach was extensive. Its pace was aggressive.

What followed was months of chemotherapy, during which Crisp continued participating in work meetings through Zoom. Her doctors scheduled major surgery for November, but she delayed it so she could preside over her last meeting as Chair of the TWU International Working Women’s Committee. Another promise made she wasn’t going to break, she said.

The surgery in January was a success. But Crisp then had a nearly fatal reaction to medication. She was back in the hospital in February. After a few months of recovery, Crisp was back in the Union Hall in April, just in time for the kick-off of contract negotiations with the MTA.

“It’s been one hell of a walk,” Crisp said, of her cancer journey. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, not even my worst enemy.”

She is now “cancer free.” She got through her ordeal, she said, by relying on several pillars of her life: her faith in God; support from family, friends, and co-workers; and a steady focus on her union duties and responsibility to the members, she said.

“It feels great to be given not just another chance to survive, but several chances,” she said. “In the first go-round, I was fighting to live because of the cancer. The second go-round, I was fighting to live because of the reaction to the medication. I was in the biggest battle of my life. Now, I’m just living. I’m very grateful.”