Seventh edition of Popular Pink is Punk breast cancer awareness event ignites Dubai

Hiba Khan - Writer 18:49 07/10/2018
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  • Popular breast cancer awareness and fundraising run and swim event IGNITE Pink is Punk returned to the Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort in Dubai last weekend.

    The event took place on Friday, October 5 and it was bigger, better and more ambitious than ever.

    To combat the scourge of breast cancer, the popular run and swim fundraising event raised awareness and funds for Brest Friends in association with the Al Jalila Foundation, with all proceeds of the event going to support breast cancer patients, support groups and ongoing research and treatment.

    Dubai-based breast cancer survivor and awareness advocate, Jenny Waite is a success story of such campaigns, who did the Pink is Punk swim-run challenge in 2017 along with her daughter, Amber Waite.

    Despite having no history of breast cancer in her family, Jenny’s diagnosis came in 2016, following a routine mammogram as part of the pink October promotion.

    IGNITE's Pink is Punk 1

    “It was a complete shock to be diagnosed as I had no lumps, symptoms of the disease or a history of breast cancer in the family, even though my family has had a history of having other types of cancer. I discovered I had several cancers in both breasts, but I was lucky enough that they managed to catch them all very early,” she said.

    “Due to the amount of other cancers in my family history I had a gene test and found two gene variants, one of which was thought to increase the risk of breast, ovarian, skin, and leukemia amongst other cancers. I had a bilateral mastectomy and lymph node removal and immediate reconstruction. All was caught before any invasion, so I did not have to have chemotherapy,” she continued.

    Ever since her full recovery, Jenny has been working closely with Brest Friends, the first breast cancer support group in the UAE established by Dr. Houriya Kazim in 2005, in partnership with Al Jalila Foundation.

    The 49-year-old Briton cycled with her daughter from Bangkok to Siem Reap in Cambodia over five days to raise over Dh41,000.

    While nipping cancer in the bud does improve chances of survival, it is important to remember that some types of breast cancer can be quite aggressive and invasive, and even an early detection does not eradicate or lessen the threat it poses to a patient’s life.

    Cancer is a very scary notion and regardless of the stage at which it is diagnosed, the whole diagnosis and treatment process is emotionally and physically taxing.

    Even for Jenny, whose treatment had been relatively shorter and without chemotherapy, she still felt the toll the disease had taken on her mind and body.

    “It’s a huge shock and it really tips your world upside down. When you’re first diagnosed and you’re going through all the testing and biopsies, where you’re prodded and poked – I think that’s the worst bit emotionally. You’re in a state where you don’t know what the diagnosis is, so you naturally imagine the worst,” she added.

    This was the seventh edition of Ignite’s Pink is Punk and with each year, they are reaching milestones and setting new benchmarks to prevent this disease from claiming more lives.

    For those who couldn’t make it to the Swim-Run event, they can contribute and show their support to this great cause by attending the Pink Moonlight Yoga at host venue Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort on Monday, October 8th 2018.

    Click here for more information.

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