In the spring of 2007 Megan Hunt began feeling a “tingling” sensation in the right side of her brain. She was eating dinner in Asheville, celebrating her 30th birthday.

The married mother of two felt the tingles “three to four times a day” over the next couple of weeks before she went to the doctor.

She was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and she soon found herself in the office of Dr. Allan Friedman, a neurosurgeon specializing in brain tumors at Duke University Medical Center.

“He wasn’t too shocked, and he said, ‘You have six weeks to deal with this, pick your day to have it (taken) out,’” Hunt said. “Up there it’s just another tumor, but to me, I was scared. I asked a hundred questions, but he said we had to pick a day, so we picked June 13.”

Doctors needed three and a half hours to remove the tumor from the left side of her brain, just over her ear.

Six days after surgery, she learned the tumor was benign, and her prognosis was good. But it wasn’t such an easy sell.

“I had to be told that five times a day,” she said. “I didn’t believe it. Emotionally, I was thinking you’re lying to me. But finally I accepted it.”

It took her six weeks to recover. She lost peripheral vision in her right eye — a permanent condition — and she had numbness and tingling in the right side of her body. She tired easily, but she focused on getting better, and that meant returning to running, a sport that had become a regular part of her life since she took it up after college.

“Routine was a good thing,” she said.

Now, Hunt is organizing a team of runners and walkers to participate in the 17th Angels Among Us 5K & Family Fun Walk on April 24 in Durham. The event raises money for the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke.

This is the third year for Hunt to participate in the event. In 2008, less than a year removed from her own surgery, she ran the race with her husband, Chris, and a close friend.

“As soon as we got there, as soon as I saw all the people, and how big the event was, I said we have got to have a team next year,” Hunt said.

Last year she organized a team of 28 to take part in the event. They raised $2,000. This year, Hunt is hoping to double the number of participants and the amount of money raised. It is a goal she hopes to reach easily.

“Everybody is willing to help you,” she said. “A lot of the people on my team have children and families and busy lives, but always stop what they are doing and help me. They just come out.”

To learn more about the event, click here.

To make a donation or to join Hunt’s team, “Moore For a Cure,” e-mail her at meganhunt@embarq.mail.com.

Hunt promises getting involved is a worthwhile experience.

“You don’t know what you are going to see or feel until you get there,” Hunt said. “It’s very emotionally and physically inspiring.”

Contact Tom Embrey at (910) 693-2484 or by e-mail at tembrey@thepilot.com.