Brooklyn resident Tricia Quartey-Sagaille, 42, is a runner, mother, dentist, business owner, and community advocate. This year, she’s taking on the TCS New York City Marathon on this Sunday, Nov 5, to promote Black maternal health after overcoming her own struggles with conceiving a child.
During her family planning journey with her husband, Quartey-Sagaille discovered she had fibroids, hormone-sensitive growths in the uterus that statistically affect Black women more than any other racial group. Fibroids can often cause health complications and issues with pregnancy and conception, and can lead to a hysterectomy or invasive surgery to treat.
After seeing a specialist, Quartey-Sagaille began in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments.
“It didn’t feel real at first, even after the specialist told me the pregnancy test was positive. It took months to feel real,” said Quartey-Sagaille of learning the process had been successful. “The stressful injections and the monitoring—but it was meant to be.”
She also had a real fear of dying during childbirth as a Black woman. According to studies, Black women in the U.S. are more likely to die due to preventable pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts.
Quartey-Sagaille has dedicated her personal and professional life to advocating for others like her.
“What I’m running for is that awareness, because I was petrified and I had known people [who] had their wives pass away,” she said. “I know that socioeconomic status doesn’t matter and me being a doctor doesn’t matter. So yeah, I was afraid.”
Born in Voorhees, N.J., Quartey-Sagaille grew up the youngest of four siblings. Her parents had emigrated from Ghana to the township in the 1970s. The medical profession bug runs in her family: Her father is a podiatrist and her mother is a nurse.
She said she was always playing sports as a kid. “I considered myself a jock. Soccer, softball, basketball. In high school, I focused more on track and field. And I danced—I did ballet and jazz,” said Quartey-Sagaille. Ironically, she was a sprinter and jumper in high school and hated long-distance running, but later, she wanted to challenge herself with longer distances after college. Her first marathon was in 2014.
After having her “miracle” son last year via C-section, she started the difficult road to training for the big marathon while adjusting to changes in her body and breastfeeding. She is part of this year’s New York Road Runners (NYRR) Team Inspire, a group of 26 runners participating in the marathon with compelling reasons for their runs. She’s excited about seeing her husband and baby as she crosses the finish line.
In addition to running for fun, Quartey-Sagaille also runs her own dental practice, Noble Dental Care in Park Slope (5th Avenue) and chairs the nonprofit Christopher Rose Community Empowerment Campaign.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.