Sarah Gandy was diagnosed with breast cancer early last year at the age of 36. As BCFNZ’s newest ambassador, she’s launching the Change & Check campaign that will ensure the presence of special stickers displaying the signs and symptoms of breast cancer in clothing stores and gyms across the country.
The message of the campaign is simple – know the warning signs of breast cancer and if you notice anything unusual, get checked out by a doctor straight away.
‘We all know the signs of a cold,’ says Sarah. ‘How great would it be if women had that same level of knowledge about what their boobs are telling them? My own case shows that breast cancer can happen to younger women, so we all need to pay attention. Saving your life can be as easy as checking your breasts in the time it takes to get changed.’
She is passionate about turning her experiences into something positive by raising awareness that breast cancer can happen to young women too. Although breast cancer in younger women is less common (out of the 3,300 women in NZ diagnosed every year, 350 of them will be under 45), it is more aggressive.
Sarah started self-checking when her good friend Delaney Tabron, who starred in the NZ comedy series Step Dave and now lives in Los Angeles, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.
Last year similar a campaign was launched in the UK by cancer survivors Helen Addis and ITV host Lorraine Kelly. It was hugely successful and even received the support of celebrities like Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) and Madonna. A number of British women confirmed their lives were literally saved by following the instructions on the stickers that they had noticed around.
The latest research by Breast Cancer Foundation NZ showed that a lot of Kiwi women were neglecting their breast health.
- 1 in 6 Kiwi women under 45 never check their breasts for changes
- “Not knowing how” is the number 1 reason why women under 45 don’t self-check
- 37% of women under 45 don’t know what to look for when checking their breasts, compared to only 8% of women 45 and older
- Only 12% of women under 45 could correctly name all of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer
- Nearly 1 in 8 respondents under 45 have ignored a lump or other symptom, rather than getting checked out by a doctor.
