Tie a pink ribbon ’round that old deadly tumor.

Title: Tie a pink ribbon ’round that old deadly tumor.

Author: rjheart

Publication: Open Salon blog: Welcome to My World

Publication Date: April 10, 2011

The Susan G. Komen foundation was founded in 1982 following the death of Susan Komen, sister of Nancy Brinker. Nancy Brinker is the founder and CEO of one of the most powerful and profitable “non-profits” in the world. Susan Komen died after three years of fighting breast cancer. She was diagnosed at a time when little was known about this deadly disease. People would cross the street to avoid going near the 36 year old woman because of their fear that she was contagious.

Susan’s last years were spent in pain and fear. Radiation treatments and breast removal were her only paths of hope. She reached out to her fellow sufferers and died with the dream that no one would ever again suffer the way that she had. Her sister vowed to bring her dream to reality. Using her experience in marketing and the influence of her family’s wealth, she began to raise money for awareness and treatment of the disease that killed her sister and nearly took her own life.

In 1984, Nancy Brinker also detected a lump in her breast and demanded immediately that the doctors remove both her breasts. Following their removal, she was given chemotherapy and survived. The experience of watching her sister wither away and die had made her choice of aggressive treatment obvious. She then wrote a book detailing her experience and guiding other women to fight and to speak out.

1982 saw the death of Susan Komen and the birth of breast cancer awareness.

Here we are. It is 2011.

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