GENEVA — The magenta streaks in Traci Rogan’s blonde hair stood out in a crowd, even a crowd of people wearing pink.
Rogan and hundreds of other walkers participated in the Walk for the Cure at Geneva High School Sunday.
Men, women, children, mothers, daughters, aunts and sisters looked into the sun, their cries of joy, triumph, struggle and loss whooshed off with the bobbling pink and white balloons, their messages of hope tied to each string.
“This year 180,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are found in women,” University Hospitals lead mammographer Amy Reed said, “This year 68,000 cases of non-invasive cancer were found. Breast cancer is nearly 100 percent curable with early detection.”
Rogan said her heart catches at the walk every year when she sees those balloons float toward the sky.
“I walk for Jerri Mazas, my aunt who died of breast cancer. My daughters and I come out and walk and help out and get into the spirit of spreading awareness and hope,” she said.
Rogan of Austinburg Township walked with daughters Molly, 9, and Claire 11.
UH-Geneva Medical Center’s Dr. Amitabh Goel said the hope and prayers of millions of women have turned the tide on breast cancer.
“There has been a huge increase in awareness, a huge increase in education and early detection,” Goel said. “Hope has saved lives this way.”
Goel said one in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime and early detection gives the very best possible chance for survival.
“Breast cancer is the third most common cancer in women, but some women think they are either too young or too old to get breast cancer,” Goel said. “Women should not get complacent. The time they stop thinking about breast cancer is exactly the time when something will happen. I have 75-year-old women who come to me in tears because they though they were too old for breast cancer.”
UH-Geneva Medical Center offers free mammograms to Ashtabula County residents through the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The mammogram includes an exam and follow up session. Goel said the free mammogram program has saved at least one life so far.
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Walking for a cure
Hundreds remember cancer victims at event
- Local News
-
-
Murder suspect kills self at mother’s grave
Madison Township police officers found the body of a murder suspect in the Alexander Harper Cemetery on Thursday afternoon, ending a day-long, multi-county manhunt.
-
Presses stopped
It was June 23, 1969.
-
Airport takes off with a new name
A new name for the Ashtabula County Airport is winding its way through the regulatory channels.
-
Property owners must pay for meth labs in Jefferson
An ordinance requiring landowners to pay for the clean-up costs of clandestine drug labs was unanimously adopted by Village Council.
-
Elections board gets help with time-consuming tasks
A Xenia company specializing in election services will take on some time-consuming tasks that should help contain the Ashtabula County Board of Elections’ labor costs, members said.
-
Commissioners pay to get the business
Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $15,000 contract with Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County to provide business service representation on behalf of the county’s One-Stop job training center.
-
Grand Valley sixth grader wins Ashtabula County Spelling Bee
James Elliott, a sixth grader at Grand Valley Middle School, clinched his win of the 29th annual Ashtabula County Area V Spelling Bee by successfully spelling the words “physique” and “daffodil.”
-
Sports, academics to come together
SPIRE Institute will expand its educational base and accept international students into its sports performance programs through a partnership with the Andrews Osborne Academy, Ted Meekma, SPIRE management team member, announced Wednesday.
-
Conneaut Chamber lauds top citizen, ‘Champions’
Nicholas Iarocci, Conneaut’s 2011 Citizen of the Year, needed plenty of gulps of water to complete his acceptance speech Tuesday night.
-
Felony charge filed in robbery
An Ashtabula woman who police said grabbed a woman’s purse inside a Conneaut supermarket late Monday afternoon faces a felony charge in Conneaut Municipal Court, according to reports.
- More Local News Headlines
-
