Opinion Piece: Breast Cancer – Field of Women LiveFriday, April 23, 2010
Just before Christmas, a good friend of mine received the news no woman ever wants to hear – that she has breast cancer. She was just one of 38 Australian women to be told that day that she had the disease. My friend’s battle with breast cancer won’t make headlines like Kylie Minogue’s or Jane McGrath’s. But the impact on her life, her family, her friends and her workmates, will be profound. Each of us, in our own ways, are trying to support her as she undergoes her demanding treatment regime. For me, my friend’s cancer has further heightened my resolve to do all I can to raise awareness of the disease and to help lessen its impact on so many Australian lives. Twelve years ago, inspired by meeting the CEO of Breast Cancer Network Australia, Lyn Swinburne, I became an advocate for women with Breast Cancer. While Parliamentary duties now consume much of my time I continue my commitment as a Director of the Otis Foundation, an organisation my husband founded and which provides accommodation in a network of rural retreats, free of charge, for women who have breast cancer, and their families. Each October I join local Manningham women in running a stall at The Pines, festooned by pink ladies to promote breast cancer awareness. I’m always struck by the large number of people who stop and chat to us who have had or been touched by breast cancer. It reinforces to me how this disease affects so many of us from all different walks of life. Which is why, on Friday, May 7 at 5 pm I will be joining up to 14,100 men and women, dressed in bright pink ponchos on the hallowed turf of the MCG. We will create the Pink Lady silhouette to recognise, and support the 14,000 women and 100 men who have been diagnosed with breast cancer over the past year. I’d like you to join us. Everyone is welcome to come along – you don’t have to have had breast cancer to take part. I’m hoping my friend will be well enough to join me. But even if she is not, I want to show my support for her and the one in nine women who will contract this disease during their lifetime. You can sign up at www.fieldofwomenlive.org.au Mary Wooldridge is the State Member of Parliament for Doncaster and an Event Champion for the Field of Women Live
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