Margaret Udo and her family gathered Wednesday morning in the second-floor lobby at Hennepin County Medical Center for her portrait to be unveiled. Soon to be revealed at the downtown Minneapolis hospital was a painting in the style of Shuri, King T’Challa’s sister in Marvel’s “Black Panther” superhero comic books and movie, to honor Udo’s journey and survival of breast cancer. In November 2022, the nurse, who lives in St.
Paul, felt a lump in her breast, and two days before Christmas, Udo learned that she had triple negative breast cancer — the most aggressive form, according to an HCMC spokesperson. Earlier that year, Udo, who is from Nigeria, had accepted a position as a registered nurse in the hospital’s oncology department. For six months, Udo pushed through immunotherapy and chemotherapy.
Then in July 2023, she underwent a bilateral mastectomy. After that, she started radiation and continued with immunotherapy. Although going through different cancer treatments caused a lot of physical challenges, Udo’s friends and family were always there to support her — they visited her home many frequently, brought meals and checked in regularly.
One of her friends even came with Udo to each and every doctor appointment. The Breast Cancer Superhero Portrait Project sponsored Udo’s painting. Barbara Porwit, a St.
Paul artist and the organizer of the project, said she believes it’s important for everyone to see themselves as superheroes and has had many people .
