Donna Hartley is coming to Manteca to inspire positive thinking as a way to fight illness.
She’s one of the presenters for Doctors Hospital of Manteca’s upcoming Cancer Symposium at the Valley Cancer Center conference room on Norman Drive on Saturday, March 22.
The North Lake Tahoe resident will use the theme “Fire up Your Healing” for her morning presentation. Those attending will also hear from noted oncologist Dr. George Fisher of Stanford University.
Hartley contends there are seven practical steps people can take to stay healthy.
She said a consultant that became her mentor guided her in a new direction from being a bulimic young actress without a dime to her present role of helping others. He told her that she would experience three life lessons that would change her dramatically.
“They will come in such a way you won’t miss them,” the University of Hawaii graduate quoted him as saying.
Those three key lessons in her life all came on the first day of March in different years.
• On March 1, 1978 she followed her intuition and asked to move her seat on a Continental Airlines DC-10 from the right side against the window to a row farther upfront on the aisle. Minutes later, as the plane was speeding down the runway at 162 miles per hour, it crashed and burned. She was the only one to walk out of the cabin section unscathed. Hartley would become an advocate for airline safety at an open governmental hearing.
• On March 1, 2002 Hartley was told she had stage lll melanoma. She is now cancer free and serves as a spokeswoman for skin cancer awareness.
• On March 1, 2012 when she faced an unexpected heart surgery to replace an aortic valve. That led her to becoming an advocate for women’s health programs.
“We all have a gift of intuition,” the former reigning Miss Hawaii said. “Changing to an aisle seat from the right side of the plane made a difference and saved my life. We have to focus on speaking out and speaking to ourselves and listening.”
The last weekend in February Hartley was one of two featured speakers on cardiovascular research technologies in Washington, D.C. The other speaker was former President George W. Bush.
Hartley has been featured on NBC, PBS, ABC and The Learning Channel as well as in the New York Times. She is author of “Fire Up Your Life!”, “Fire Up Your Intuition!”, and “Fire Up Your Healing!”
To register for the Doctors Hospital symposium on March 22 call 800.470.7229. The symposium starts with registration at 8:45 a.m. and concludes at 2 p.m. It includes a continental breakfast and lunch provided by Doctors Hospital.
