Still feeling the loss of her husband, who died of esophageal cancer 10 months earlier, Shari MacLellan got the diagnosis in 2004 that one in nine Canadian women dread.
She had breast cancer. With no family history of the disease, the diagnosis came when she was just 33 years old.
Widowed and left to raise her three children alone, MacLellan said it was an easy decision to have the mastectomy of her left breast and then to have her right breast removed as a precautionary measure just before reconstructive surgery took place.
"Take whatever you need," said MacLellan.
She had children to raise.
The CIBC Run for the Cure takes place Oct. 4 at Prince George city hall.
Registration is at 8:30 a.m. and the walk/run starts at 10 a.m.
"Fundraising works because breast cancer research works and the research done by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation focuses on prevention and improving detection, treatment and providing community support," said MacLellan, who is now an 11-year cancer survivor and 10-year volunteer with the CIBC Run for the Cure.
Although the survival rate of those diagnosed with breast cancer is 91.8 per cent, it's still not good enough for MacLellan.
"One in nine women diagnosed with breast cancer in Canada is still one too many," said MacLellan, who works at Northern Health, and wants the survival rate to go up to 100 per cent.
Among Canadian women over the age of 20, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women.
In Canada in 2015, 220 men and about 25,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer.
"To women like me, fundraising like the CIBC Run for the Cure is everything. We're all in this together and we're all survivors. Our families are survivors, our husbands are survivors, our brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews - we're all survivors because with one in nine women affected we're all going to know somebody touched by this disease."
It's not too late to participate or volunteer for the one kilometre walk and 5 km run held on Sunday.
"The CIBC Run for the Cure is an inspiring day where our community comes together to support the breast cancer cause, and those impacted by this disease," said Melissa Veregin, volunteer co-run director.
"On run day, we see this amazing support - whether it's for a breast cancer survivor, someone going through treatment, or even participating in memory of someone. We are all there to create a future without breast cancer."
To register, donate or volunteer visit www.cibcrunforthecure.com.
