Marika Meeks & Stella

press release: Marika Meeks didn’t know if she would make it through the debilitating treatment for her Stage 3 breast cancer.  Focused on simply surviving cancer, Marika had forgotten how to live. Then she met Stella, a beautiful seven-month-old caramel-and-white pit bull puppy abandoned with her sister in a rural Indiana field, left to die. She went from being totally shipwrecked in a post-cancer sea of fear, worry, anxiety, and guilt, to understanding that her journey is about more than her efforts to stay alive. It is about how to live on purpose while you are still alive. Now cancer-free and living her best life with a renewed purpose and connection to her husband and two daughters, she has dedicated her life to educating people on the powerful force that pets can play in our lives while also encouraging people to rescue, foster, and adopt animals like Stella.

Marika created an Instagram account @incredibullstella to share her story and advocate for dog rescue. Their story became a social media sensation when shared by The Dodo, and now has more than 15M views and more than 67.6K Instagram followers tune-in to see the stories of pet rescue, fostering and advocacy.

Marika and Stella introduce their new book, Incredibull Stella: How the Love of a Pit Bull Rescued a Family, Thursday, September 12 from 5-7pm at Barnes and Noble, West Towne Mall, 7433 Mineral Point Road, Madison. 608-827-0809. More information at www.incredibullstella.com