October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And one name I hear associated with the fight against breast cancer over and over is Susan G. Komen.
Susan G. Komen was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of thirty-three. Her three year battle with the disease included nine operations and three courses of chemotherapy. She passed away in 1980.
Her sister, Nancy Brinker, founded the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in 1982. Brinker felt that her sister might have had a better battle against the disease if more people understood cancer and how it is treated. Komen had also asked Brinker to find a way to improve breast cancer research:
“Nan,” she said, “as soon as I get better, let’s do something about this. You can find a way to speed up the research. I know you can.” (Quote from Nancy Brinker on Komen.org)
In 2007, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation changed its name and mission. After twenty-five years in action, it became Komen for the Cure, with a goal of a world without breast cancer.
That’s the short story. But how do you sum up a life and a legacy in so few words? Brinker describes her sister as “beautiful, kind, and loving.” She was inspired in her breast cancer fight by First Lady Betty Ford, who announced her own fight in 1978. Komen faced chemotherapy and radiation treatments with grace and humor, and found sympathy and concern for other women undergoing cancer treatments.
Brinker says this of Komen for the Cure today:
“As I look back over the more than 25 years since I founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure, I am amazed at our accomplishments. What began as a promise to my dying sister, Susan G. Komen, has evolved into the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures.” (Quote from Nancy Brinker on Komen.org.)
Komen for the Cure invites everyone to participate in fundraising and awareness campaigns like Race for the Cure, Passionately Pink for the Cure, and the Circle of Promise.