KBTV

Watercooler Diaries::Pink Ribbons and "LIVESTRONG" Bracelets

Here in the U.S. pink ribbons and rubber "LIVESTRONG" bracelets are ubiquitous, dotting the American Landscape through the month of October — National Breast Cancer Awareness Month — as health care professionals, charitable organizations, corporations and regular folks mobilize for the cure.

With all this it’s very easy to forget that women in other parts of the world, where advocacy in general is in its infancy, breast cancer is still a shameful secret.

Every three minutes an Egyptian woman is informed that she has the illness and the misery from lack of treatment options has led to misinformation. In developing countries such as India, women with breast cancer may be forced to use separate forks and knives because of the widespread belief that the disease is contagious.

It made me very grateful to be a woman living in America when I saw the sea of pink shirts, a man on stilts clad in hot pink fur pants and a masseuse with pink Energizer Bunny ears on Saturday at the 12th Annual Miami/Fort Lauderdale Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K at Bayfront Park.

A record 16,042 runners and walkers turned out for the occasion. It was the largest Race for the Cure event in Miami ever. More than 700 breast cancer survivors, carrying pink roses presented to them during the survivor ceremony, participated in the race.

This year the event raised more than $1 million for breast cancer research, education and detection. South Florida Ford Dealers had the largest team, with 1,800 participants. Thousands of people — in all different shapes and sizes — gathered on Biscayne Bay to demonstrate their support for the cause, celebrate the survivors and remember their loved ones.

As I walked along in the crowd a mother stopped me and asked if I could take a picture of her and her daughter. We got to talking, and she shared her story with me. She's a survivor. She brought her 10-year-old daughter to run with her. Just four weeks before the woman was having surgery — a hysterectomy — because she is a genetic carrier for breast cancer. She said it was important that her daughter was at the event so she could "see that there are others like her mommy." And that she's not alone.

That feeling of "togetherness" was the underlying theme of the race. It was almost like everyone — all the men, children, family members and friends — were saying, "You aren't alone. We are here with you!"

Many ran in honor of a mother or sister or aunt lost to breast cancer, with a little pink tag placed on their backs. A few runners even got tearful as they recounted good times spent with the lost loved one.

Check out these photos from the race!

posted by INSIDE FAU @ 9:58 PM