One in every seven women will develop breast cancer in the course of their lifetime.
Around 5 to 10% of breast cancer cases are hereditary, meaning they are caused by genetic mutations passed down the generations. With more research needed in the area of breast cancer, an active and enjoyable means of raising awareness and funds is back.
Avril Tierney and Karen Kruger are both ambassadors for Breast Cancer Ireland’s 'Very Pink Run', and they joined Lunchtime Live to share their stories of battling the disease.
Very Pink Run
“I was diagnosed initially in 2019, and did all the treatments, all the chemotherapy, and was meant to then go on with my life as normal, but unfortunately in 2020 I was re-diagnosed again,” Avril said.
After four more months of treatment, she was diagnosed with stage four metastatic cancer, which for her case was treatable but not curable. “It’s beyond devastating to get that diagnosis,” she says.
Avril is currently living with no disease present in scans, taking things day by day with a positive attitude: “I do my treatment, come out, and live as best as I can."
Breast cancer awareness
Karen was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in early 2022. She commended the support she received from the oncology staff in St. Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, as she was “trying to pretend as if it wasn’t happening.”
However, she believes there is still room for improvement in the area of post-treatment as she says: “This is what Breast Cancer Research Ireland is so involved with - the amount of research that they fund is phenomenal.”
A pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness. Image: AlamyAvril explained how Breast Cancer Ireland made an indelible impact on her cancer journey: “There’s not a huge amount spoken about stage 4, so for the likes of me living with stage 4, I linked in with Breast Cancer Ireland at a really good time when they were doing a campaign called ‘Metastatic Matters’, and I found that I had this platform that I was able to provide a voice for women like me.”
“I’m really here [today] because of this research and the cancer trials” she added.
There are three runs taking place across the country where people can take part in either a 5 km or 10 km run - in Dublin, Kilkenny and Cork.
More details can be found on verypinkrun.ie
