Close to 10,000 people came out to share stories of breast cancer survival and advocate for testing at the annual Susan G. Komen More Than Pink Walk on Saturday.
CBS News Miami was proud to participate in the annual event, where anchor Lauren Pastrana was the emcee of the walk.
Inspiring stories of why people walk
Falon Aiken said she has been a survivor of breast cancer for the last seven years. She remembers how she found out she had it.
“I tripped going up some steps and my breast hit the wall. I grabbed a breast in pain and agony,” Aiken said. “And then, probably a couple of months later, I felt a lump in that breast.”
She said her grandmother had breast cancer, so she got tested. It’s a message she’s spreading at the Komen More Than Pink Walk for breast cancer.
“I’m very ecstatic that I got tested,” Aiken told CBS News Miami. “I’m glad that I had the mindset that my grandmother went through this and that I keep going.”
Breast cancer is commonly found in women, but the CDC says that about one out of every 100 breast cancer cases is in a man. And the Breast Cancer Research Foundation found that between 5 and 10% of breast cancer cases are hereditary.
“For certain women above the age of 40, you get screened annually. But some younger women have a strong family history where you get screened annually,” said Sophia George, PhD, associate director of global oncology research strategy with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Fatima Poello is walking for her mom, who died from breast cancer in 2007. She told CBS News Miami the cancer had relapsed.
“What I went through with my mom, I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through,” Poello said.
