Why We Wear Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness

Ras helping a resident don their support with pink accessories.

“I am an advocate for screening.”

AmySue Ras was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer in 2016. “It was detected through a routine mammogram,” says Ras, who had no family history of breast cancer and seemingly no other risk factors associated with the disease. “If I had skipped a year and not been screened, it would have grown and likely been at a higher stage later on.”

Ras continued to work while receiving treatments. “Everybody here was really supportive,” she says, adding that her teammates on the therapeutic recreation team covered for her as she juggled her normal workload along with doctor’s appointments and follow-ups.

While not a survivor herself, concierge and longtime St. John’s employee Marty Fitch is also a strong advocate for health screenings of all kinds, including for breast cancer. “Everyone I know has been touched by a survivor,” says Fitch.

Marty Fitch wore pink on October 21 this year (the 22nd is her day off)

“Every day counts,” she adds. “Don’t let it lapse. Make sure you get screened regularly. Our families and friends are counting on us to be around.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), over a quarter of a million Americans are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Prevention awareness efforts have surely kept that number from increasing in recent years.

Check out the photo gallery from October 20, 2023,  as St. John’s staff came out in force to wear pink for breast cancer awareness!

October 2024’s photo gallery can be found here.

 

This post was updated October 2024.

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