Richmond Hill explosion victim battles cancer: ‘It’s about being a survivor’

Michelle Waddey remembers sitting on the edge of her bed after brushing her teeth and removing her makeup. It was late on a Saturday night, and she was alone in her house on Fieldfare Way. Her son was with his father, her daughter out with friends.

"I had just flipped open my iPad when the boom happened."

The "boom" was a massive explosion three houses down in the Richmond Hill subdivision on Indianapolis' southeast side.

Waddey remembers standing up, walking into the master bath and seeing that the mirror she had just been standing in front of had exploded. Large shards of glass were impaled in the wall across the room.

"I was in shock. 'This is not right' is the first thing I thought," she said. Dazed, she found a pair of jeans in the closet, shook off a heavy coating of insulation that covered everything and made her way outside, where she remembers seeing a huge ball of fire to her right.

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She didn't know it then, but her world was truly rocked off its foundation that night. And it wouldn't be the only trauma she faced.

Just weeks after the deliberate explosion in 2012 that killed two people and devastated her neighborhood, Waddey found herself in a doctor's office, listening as he told her she had breast cancer.

It was too much.

"That's when I felt I couldn't do anymore," she said.

Lucky for her, she had strong support from family who guided her through the next several months.

As she tells her story, the 51-year-old accounts payable manager at Citizens Energy starts off strong, almost matter of fact, but within minutes she has to stop to compose herself, fighting the tears. It takes her by surprise.

"I'm sorry," she says. "It's been four years. I thought I had cried all the tears I could."

But retelling her story brings all the emotions back — the fear, the fatigue, the uncertainty.

Her house was boarded up, deemed unsafe. She first stayed with her parents, then in a motel, then an apartment while piecing together her life. Waddey underwent a lumpectomy, followed by weeks of radiation. She dealt with insurance companies and contractors on rebuilding the house, which sustained severe damage in the explosion.

She prayed. Sometimes it was as simple as, "God, get me through the next 10 minutes."

Nothing was normal. "I was a nervous, stressed-out wreck," she says.

She missed her neighbors, that community of dear friends who had leaned on one other over the years. But she found a few new friends, thanks to the Pink Ribbon Connection, a local not-for-profit whose staff and volunteers provide breast cancer patients one-on-one peer counseling, educational seminars and free resources, including wigs, bras and accessories.

Founded in 2006, the organization with east-side offices at 1139 Shelby St. serves more than 1,000 breast cancer survivors annually. Executive director Dori Sparks-Unsworth said her board of directors — all breast cancer survivors — keeps the organization mission-focused.

"We hone in on what women really need when they're going through treatment," like someone to talk to who understands the journey, she said. Maybe they need a ride to an appointment, or they can't afford a wig when their hair falls out.

"They walk out of here with products they really need; it's a huge relief for these women," she said.

On Saturday, Waddey and her daughter, Taylor, will be among women touched by breast cancer who will model in the Stars of Pink Fashion Show at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, 350 W. Maryland St. The fundraiser for Pink Ribbon Connection includes a luncheon and fashion show from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tickets are $75.

Six months to the day after the Nov. 10, 2012, explosion, Waddey moved back into her rebuilt home on Fieldfare Way. She had just finished her cancer treatment and thought moving back home would be the end of her turmoil. It wasn't.

"I thought, 'When I get back in the house, I'm going to be fine.'

"And I wasn't fine," she said quietly. "It was horrible. The street was different; it was very dark, and most of my neighbors weren't back. I thought I'd made a big mistake."

And she had 453 boxes to unpack.

Waddey, who had taken six months off from work, got treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Part of her treatment required her to write down one positive thing each day.

"I had to change my way of thinking," she said. "When you're in that downward spiral, you have to find something positive."

It took a while, but slowly some neighbors returned to Fieldfare Way, and Waddey went back to work. She grew stronger and eventually remarried.

Still, there are holes in the neighborhood where friends used to live — five on Fieldfare alone. Those vacant lots are a constant reminder every day of what happened, Waddey said.

She mourns for John "Dion" and Jennifer Longworth, the young couple who died in the explosion and for the sense of security lost by everyone who lived nearby. The disaster and the diagnosis were a mortality check, she said, but she finds strength in her faith and believes she has unfinished business on this Earth.

"I don't know why I wasn't standing in front of that mirror (when it exploded) or why the cancer wasn't worse," she said. "I still have a purpose."

Cancer-free for three years now, she said part of that purpose is helping other women going through breast cancer.

"During that time, I had so many people do so many nice things for me. Once you get whole again, you feel like you need to give something back. This (Pink Ribbon Connection) is the perfect fit for me."

Once she steps out on that stage Saturday, she knows she'll feel the love from the crowd.

"It's not about being rail thin. It's about being a survivor."

Call IndyStar reporter Maureen Gilmer at (317) 444-6879. Follow her on Twitter: @MaureenCGilmer.

Stars of Pink Fashion Show

• What: Luncheon and fashion show benefiting nonprofit Pink Ribbon Connection. 

• When: 11 a.m. Oct. 1.

• Where: Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, 350 W. Maryland St.

• Tickets and info: $75, pinkribbonconnection.org. 

• Volunteer: Next orientation session, 5:30 p.m. Oct. 27, 1139 Shelby St.

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