“I was shocked,” said Shawnda Morris, a breast cancer survivor. “I was puzzled as to why it hit me and how it hit me.”
Morris was diagnosed with breast cancer back in May of 2014. Since then she has undergone several cancer treatments which she admits has been very challenging. But she says it was her son, who is also a cancer survivor, who helped her make it through to remission.
“I accepted it. Win, lose or draw, I’m going to do this,” she said.
Morris was one of more than 200 men and women who showed their support for breast cancer awareness at the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at UNOH. She says it's important for people to show support because of the impact that cancer has on many lives.
“It’s devastating,” she said. “It’s something that hits close to home. It doesn’t just hit the survivor, it hits households. It hits the family.”
“The awareness is so much not about wearing the pink, but it’s about reminding ourselves and letting those women know that we care,” said Kathy Kahle, an American Cancer Society board vice-chair.
Through this event the area American Cancer Society hopes to raise between $50,000- $60,000. The money will go towards helping fund research to prevent, find and treat breast cancer.
“The support is needed,” said Morris. “The cure is definitely needed and just the findings are definitely needed.”
